▁foreign ▁direct ▁invest ment ▁among ▁developing ▁countries . ▁While ▁China ' s ▁accept ance ▁of ▁foreign ▁invest ment ▁is ▁commonly ▁associated ▁with ▁D eng ▁X ia op ing ’ s ▁policies , ▁Chinese ▁leaders ▁including ▁Ma o ▁Z ed ong ▁and ▁H ua ▁Gu of eng ▁already ▁acknowled ged ▁the ▁need ▁to ▁import ▁foreign ▁capital ▁and ▁technology ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 7 0 s . ▁The ▁invest ments ▁from ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁up ▁till ▁the ▁ 2 0 0 0 s ▁mainly ▁focused ▁on ▁the ▁manufact uring ▁sector , ▁ear ning ▁China ▁the ▁label ▁“ world ’ s ▁factory ”. ▁However , ▁female ▁migr ant ▁workers ▁who ▁contributed ▁to ▁the ▁growth ▁through ▁participation ▁in ▁the ▁foreign - owned ▁manufact uring ▁sector ▁had ▁to ▁work ▁in ▁poor ▁conditions , ▁with ▁ins u fficient ▁labor ▁protection , ▁and ▁under ▁restricted ▁migration ▁opportun ities ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁h uk ou ▁system . ▁ ▁Ma o ▁period ▁( 1 9 4 9 - 1 9 7 6 ) ▁ ▁Self - re liance ▁ ▁During ▁the ▁Ma o ▁period , ▁the ▁Chinese ▁Commun ist ▁Party ▁ad her ed ▁to ▁the ▁policy ▁of ▁self - re liance . ▁Foreign ▁direct ▁invest ment ▁basically ▁did ▁not ▁exist , ▁except ▁for ▁a ▁very ▁small ▁number ▁of ▁foreign - owned ▁companies ▁which ▁continued ▁operation ▁in ▁China , ▁like ▁the ▁Royal ▁Dutch ▁Sh ell . ▁During ▁the ▁Cultural ▁Revolution , ▁the ▁concept ▁of ▁self - re liance ▁was ▁added ▁with ▁revolution ary ▁values , ▁with ▁Learning