China was considered self-sufficient by this time. This meant that they did not
need to trade to thrive. Why did they
choose to be so involved with the world's
trade, then?
They had too many goods and did not wish
them to go to waste.
They wanted to position themselves to be in a
position of power for future wars.
They desired power and prestige and
possessed large stockpiles of the goods that
people throughout the world wanted.
The Chinese wanted to have nations become
dependent on them for trade; then raise
prices after they had control over world
marketplaces.