Open Door Policy Timeline

(1899–1900)

The Open Door Policy was a U.S. diplomatic initiative beginning in 1899 that sought equal commercial access to China and preservation of Chinese territorial integrity. More Less

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Origins and Qing China

First Opium War and most favored nation treaties

1839 - 1842

The theory behind the Open Door Policy originated in British commercial practice after the First Opium War. Treaties concluded with Qing China included most favored nation provisions intended to prevent any single country from gaining an exclusive advantage.

Image source: First Opium War

Berlin Conference and the Congo free-trade principle

1885

The concept associated with an open door was also visible at the Berlin Conference, where the participating powers declared that no power could levy preferential duties in the Congo.

Image source: Berlin Conference

Berlin Conference and the Congo free-trade principle

China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War

1894 - 1895

China's defeat created an imminent threat that imperial powers would partition and colonize the country. France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Japan, and Russia all had a presence or growing influence in China.

Image source: First Sino-Japanese War

American diplomacy and imperial competition

United States gains the Philippine Islands

1898

After winning the Spanish–American War, the United States acquired the Philippine Islands and increased its Asian presence, strengthening its expectation of pursuing commercial and political interests in China.

Image source: Spanish–American War

John Hay creates the Open Door Policy

Sep 6, 1899

U.S. Secretary of State John Hay's Open Door Note established the policy by calling for equal trade and investment opportunities while seeking to preserve China's territorial and administrative integrity.

First Open Door Note circulates among the powers

Sep 6, 1899

Hay sent notes to France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Japan, and Russia asking them to affirm that they would uphold China's territorial and administrative integrity and allow free use of treaty ports within their spheres of influence.

Boxer uprising prompts renewed diplomacy

1900

As the powers considered intervention to suppress the violently anti-foreign Boxer uprising, the future of China's territorial integrity and foreign access became an urgent international issue.

Image source: Boxer Rebellion

Second Open Door Note

Jul 1900

John Hay circulated a Second Open Door Note affirming the principles of the policy during the Boxer crisis. By July, he announced that each of the major powers had consented in principle.

Image source: Open Door Policy

Treaties and policy decline

Treaties continue to invoke the Open Door

1900

Although treaties after 1900 referred to the Open Door Policy, competition among foreign powers continued over railroad rights, mining rights, loans, foreign trade ports, and other special concessions in China.

Yangtze Agreement

Oct 6, 1900

Britain and Germany signed the Yangtze Agreement to oppose partitioning China into competing spheres of influence, reinforcing the diplomatic language associated with the Open Door.

United States protests Russia's Manchurian incursion

1902

The U.S. government protested Russia's continued incursion into Manchuria after the Boxer Rebellion, arguing that it violated the principles of the Open Door Policy.

Image source: Russian invasion of Manchuria

Russo-Japanese War reshapes Manchurian influence

1904 - 1905

After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan replaced Russia in southern Manchuria. The Japanese and American governments pledged to maintain a policy of equality in Manchuria.

Image source: Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War reshapes Manchurian influence

Japan seeks a larger sphere in Fujian

1905 - 1907

Japan made overtures to enlarge its sphere of influence to include Fujian, demonstrating the continuing tension between formal equality and competition for special influence in China.

International banking consortium forms

1909

American efforts to preserve the Open Door in financial affairs contributed to the formation of an international banking consortium for Chinese railroad loans.

China's railroad-loan exchange of notes

1917

The United States and Japan agreed to another exchange of notes in 1917 concerning Chinese railroad loans, reflecting continuing attempts to manage competition under the Open Door framework.

Secret treaties weaken the Open Door

1917

A series of secret treaties between Japan and the Allied Triple Entente promised Japan the German possessions in China after a successful World War I. These arrangements further weakened the Open Door principle.

Image source: Twenty-One Demands

Versailles Treaty transfers German possessions in China

1919

The promise of German possessions in China was realized in the Versailles Treaty. The decision angered the Chinese public because it appeared to disregard China's territorial interests and the principle of equal treatment.

Image source: Treaty of Versailles

May Fourth Movement protests the settlement

1919

Public anger over the Versailles settlement sparked the May Fourth Movement, a major Chinese protest against the diplomatic outcome and foreign privilege.

Image source: May Fourth Movement

Nine-Power Treaty reaffirms the Open Door

1922

The Nine-Power Treaty expressly reaffirmed the Open Door Policy, offering a multilateral statement in favor of China's territorial integrity and equal commercial opportunity.

Image source: Nine-Power Treaty

Japan seizes Manchuria

1931

The policy collapsed in practical terms when Japan seized and retained Manchuria despite international disapproval, demonstrating that diplomatic commitments could not prevent unilateral interference.

Image source: Japanese invasion of Manchuria

Manchurian Incident exposes policy limits

1931

The Manchurian Incident marked the first major Japanese interference cited as evidence that the Open Door could not protect China. American investments remained considerable but did not reach major proportions.

Image source: Mukden Incident

Second Sino-Japanese War

1937 - 1945

The Second Sino-Japanese War further demonstrated the inability of the Open Door Policy to protect China against Japanese interference. Chinese leaders sought American aid but were unwilling to accept the passive role implied by the policy.

Image source: Second Sino-Japanese War

China White Paper documents United States-China relations

1949

The United States State Department issued the China White Paper, a selection of official documents covering United States-China relations from 1900 to 1949.

The technical end of the original Open Door era

1949

The term Open Door Policy is technically applicable only to the period before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Deng Xiaoping's opening and global impact

A transitional Open Door policy begins

1977

Mao Zedong's handpicked successor initiated a transitional period and introduced an Open Door policy in 1977, preparing the way for China's later economic opening.

Image source: Chinese economic reform

China rises from 32nd to 13th in exports

1978 - 1989

China was ranked 32nd in the world by export volume in 1978. By 1989, it had doubled its world trade and become the 13th-largest exporter.

China's trade expansion begins

1978 - 1990

China's average annual rate of trade expansion exceeded 15 percent between 1978 and 1990. The country moved from a negligible export position toward a much larger role in world trade.

Open Door policy lays groundwork for reforms

1978 - 1987

The opening policy laid the groundwork for Deng Xiaoping's reforms and was incorporated in 1987 under the Four Modernizations, which expanded foreign investment, agriculture, industry, science and technology, and national defense.

Deng Xiaoping's economic opening

1978

After Deng Xiaoping took power, Open Door referred to China's policy of opening to foreign businesses willing to invest. The policy set in motion the economic transformation of modern China.

Special Economic Zones are established

1980

Special Economic Zones were established in 1980 to attract foreign direct investment, modernize Chinese industry, and boost the economy.

Image source: Special economic zones of China

Four initial Special Economic Zones open

1980

The first four Special Economic Zones were Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Shantou in Guangdong, and Xiamen in Fujian.

Shenzhen becomes a high-growth model

1981 - 1993

Shenzhen showed the most rapid growth among the initial zones, averaging approximately 40 percent annual growth between 1981 and 1993, compared with 9.8 percent average GDP growth for China as a whole.

Image source: Shenzhen

China's export share remains below two percent

1998

Despite the transformation initiated by the Open Door policy, China's share of the world market remained below 2 percent in 1998, following its negligible share in 1978.

Image source: Economy of China

China becomes the leading merchandise exporter

2010

By 2010, China held a 10.4 percent share of the world market according to the World Trade Organization, with merchandise export sales exceeding $1.5 trillion, the highest in the world.

China becomes the world's biggest trading nation

2013

In 2013, China overtook the United States as the world's biggest trading nation in goods, with total imports and exports valued at $4.16 trillion for the year.

Xi Jinping addresses business leaders

Jul 21, 2020

Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping delivered a speech in Beijing to a group of public and private business leaders at the entrepreneur forum.

Image source: Xi Jinping