The development of architecture in 20th-century China followed closely its political evolution. Starting out as an imperial regime nearly colonized by Western powers, China was declared a republic in 1911, only to fall into the chaos of the warlord period a year later. With the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, the country was engaged in eight years of warfare. When the Communists first took power in the country in 1949, after four years of civil war following the Japanese surrender, China enjoyed ten years of stability. A series of political campaigns took place between 1959 and 1976, disrupting the normal functioning of the country. In 1979 China adopted an economic opendoor policy; foreign and multinational companies were invited to invest and trade in the country. This resulted in a booming economy and strong foreign trade in the last decades of the 20th century. Architectural style, spatial conception, architectural symbolism, the choice of architect, and construction technology...