Well, in the late Qing Dynasty, China became very weak. Especially, after the Opium War (1840), the Qing imperial government became more and more corrupt and China became a bone of contention between Western colonists. A lot of natural resources of China were preyed by the colonists. At the same time, Chinese culture, arts and crafts and many local products were brought to the West. Many western countries set up factories in China. They took advantage of Chinese natural resources and plenty of labor force to develop the own capitalist economy. During this time, Chinese people lived a very hard life. Many of them emigrate to other countries to make a living. That's why today we can see the traces of Chinese in many countries.