Upvote:3
In December 1978 Deng Xiaoping an "open door policy" that allowed foreign companies to set up in China.
Prior to that, foreigners were not allowed to invest in China. Foreigners mostly were excluded, even as tourists.
China's Communist party essentially turned its back on central planning and state-ownership of all means of production and adopted a capitalist economic model while retaining a one-party political system under the control of the communist party.
The availability of an extremely low-wage workforce, led to Western manufacturers transferring manufacturing facilities and knowledge to China.