Hundred Days' Reform in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894–1895, not long after the First (1839–1842) and Second (1856–1860) Opium Wars; this blow came as a major shock to the Chinese, because Japan had been regarded as a tributary state, was much smaller than China, and was regarded as inferior. China also fought France in the Sino-French War from 1884 to 1885. Moreover, the defeat of China by Japan led to a scramble for "privileges" in China by other foreign powers, notably by the German Empire and Russia, further awakening the conservatives. Before the First Sino-Japanese War, China engaged in technological modernization only,
Luxury goods of China China and increase production of larger cars. Swiss shipments of high-end watches, favored as gifts meant to curry favor and caricatured as a symbol of corruption, after peaking in 2012, dropped off in 2013. In April, 2013 sales of gold and jewelry were 72% higher than in April, 2012. Luxury goods of China The market for luxury goods in China composes a significant proportion of all luxury goods sales worldwide. In 2012, China surpassed Japan as the world's largest luxury market. According to a blue paper on commercial development in China, released in 2010 by the Chinese Academy of Social