Third Phase (1885-1895)
By this period, the enthusiasm for reform had slowed down to a crawl. The conservative faction at court had managed to overwhelm Prince Gong and his supporters.
While the emphasis on building tall structures and industries continued, the idea of enriching the country through the drug industry gained the court's favor; thus industries like textiles and cotton-weaving developed rapidly.
New types of enterprises sprouted in this period: joint government and merchant enterprises, even incipient "private enterprises". Whereas the Chinese government had traditionally discriminated against private merchants, all the initial encouragement of private enterprises seemed to mark a change in the government's attitude. However, the government was only interested in getting capital from private enterprises; the government was still not ready to let them take an active role in economic development. Thus, the private enterprises failed to flourish, and control of such enterprises remained firmly in government's hands.
Examples of such enterprises included Kweichow Ironworks established in 1891 and the Hupeh Textile Company established in 1894. Like all other newly-sprouted enterprises of its kind, they were very weak and represented only a small fraction of the total investment in industry.
Read more about this topic: Self-Strengthening Movement
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