Timeline label

Total Central Government Expenditures as Share of GDP

Image caption

Public spending (%GDP), selected OECD countries, 1900-2015

There was a rapid increase in government spending around the time of WWII across the globe. This meant that there was less attention on the consumer as global attention went towards the war. Furthermore, across the globe there was rationing as sovereign nations and their colonies attempted to derive all possible resources towards the issue at hand. Therefore, there was a dramatic decrease in spending on Chinese goods. This combined with the Cultural Revolution meant that China was essentially on pause when it came to involvement with the global economy until Reform and Opening began in 1977.

在第二次世界大战期间，全世界的政府都在花更多的钱。因此，更少的人因为担心战争而担心个人购买商品。全世界的人们也很少买东西，因为各国正试图将所有资源用于战争。所以，中国商品的购买量大大减少了。战争对经济的影响加上文化大革命，意味着中国直到1977年改革开放才全球经济产生影响。

Timeline date

1940

Contributor

Source: Roine, Vlachos, Waldenström (2009) and US Historical Tables (2016)