Haha I had to write an essay on this about two weeks ago.
China first felt the effects of imperialism after the Opium Wars, when the UK demanded they give them Hong Kong and access to four other trading ports. Because of this treaty, China was forced to integrate into the European/western trading system. Despite Europe taking over their ports, China remained relatively autonomous from a political standpoint. The Qing Dynasty was in power and holding strong. The Chinese still made up the majority of their government, because for the most part, Europeans respected them. Imperialism didn't have much of an effect on industrialization either. China remained unindustrialized for most of history. They believed industrializing would kill their culture and even the few reforms they did make were shut down by people like Cixi. Although Europeans took over their ports, they never forcibly implemented huge technological changes. However, because of western imperialism, China later realized they needed to catch up and make other reforms, which later led to Mao and the Cultural Revolution.
