The self-strengthening Movement can be divided into three stages. The first, is from 1861 to 1872, after the Second Opium War, China starts the adoption of the Western firearms, machines, scientific knowledge and the training of technical… the pre-eminent feature of the first period was the emphasis on the development of military industries. Firstly, China intakes the modern production from the Western country and at the same time instead of abandoning the old –style, they retained the old-style and administrative procedures. Secondly, they relied on foreigners for operation and materials, there seem to have a blind faith in believing the foreigners. Due to this false belief and poor leadership the ships and guns produced were nowhere comparable in quality to the Western counterparts. …show more content…
Li Hung-chang announced in September 1876: “China’s chronic weakness stems from poverty.” Therefore, during the second period from 1872 to 1885, commerce, industry, and agriculture received attention. This is the first time China has shifted its create wealth from its own land to the development of profit-oriented enterprises such as shipping, railways, mining, and the telegraph. During this second period, Li Hung-chang emerged as the leading proponent of modern industries and enterprises, Li rose to be the unrivaled leader of the Self-Strengthening Movement, under 90 percent of the modernization projects were launched under his ages.