Economic history of Taiwan

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The recordkeeping and development of the economic history of Taiwan started in the Age of Discovery. In the 17th century, the Europeans realized that Taiwan is located on the strategic cusp between the Far East and Southeast Asia. Two main European empires that competed to colonize it were the Dutch and Spanish Empires. Taiwan also became an intermediate destination for trade between Western European empires and East Asia states. The history of Taiwan as a colony of the Dutch Empire, Kingdom of Tungning, Qing China, and Empire of Japan between 1630 and 1945 was based heavily on economics.

In the 1950s, the ROC government, retreated to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War, carried out land reform policies such as the 375 Rent Reduction.^[1][2] In the 1960s, the agrarian economy was replaced with light industry as small and medium enterprises started to form. From 1966 to 1980, Taiwan's economy was gradually stabilized as the Ten Major Construction Projects laid a foundation in further economic developments. After the 1980s, the role of government in the economy gradually lessened as many government-owned corporations were privatized.