The Chinese people have created a splendid civilization during a long process of historical evolution， from Da Yu's control of the floods to the "four great inventions"， and from the legend of Chang'e flying to the moon to the successful flight of China's first manned spacecraft. While the ancient civilizations of Babylon， Egypt and India fell to invasion or other disasters， Chinese civilization never paused and has developed and continued to this day. Today， China has become the world's second largest economy with a GDP of RMB80 trillion. When we look back into history， however， we saw a corrupt and weak Qing Dynasty （1644-1911） signing the Treaty of Nanking after losing the First Opium War （1839-1842） to Britain， once a "small barbarian state" in the eyes of the Qing ruler， which had become the world's biggest power at the time with its industrialization drive. The Treaty of Nanking， which ended the First Opium War after two years， was the first unequal treaty signed between China and Western powers in modern history. It was only the beginning of a series of unequal treaties resulting in the occupation of some 1.8 million sq km of Chinese land by foreign powers， which cut up the vast territories of China for their own use. With the birth of the CPC in July 1921， China embarked on a new path of development.
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