A westernising Qing China as an industrial power

How might Qing China have developed if it had been more receptive to Western trade and industrial ideas?

Earlier trade, technology transfer, infrastructure maintenance, and domestic industrialisation could have made China a major power by the 1920s or 1930s.

Earlier Chinese engagement with outside trade and ideas could have changed the balance of power. Buying foreign technology would matter only if the state also developed its own capabilities. Maintaining infrastructure and building a domestic industrial base are the central steps in the scenario. With those foundations established while Qing China was still relatively strong, it could become a major power by the 1920s or 1930s. That path offers an alternative to the weakness that left China vulnerable to Japanese aggression.