The period of earning foreign exchange was 1949 after the liberation of People's Republic of China (PRC), 1966 before the Cultural Revolution, 1949 to 1966, and the sixties and seventies from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s.

In the field of collection, the period of earning foreign exchange, or the period of earning foreign exchange through export, refers to the period from the founding of the People's Republic of China to before the Cultural Revolution. During this period, many domestic craft products were produced and exported.

In the 1980s, at the beginning of China's reform and opening-up, all walks of life needed a lot of foreign exchange because of the introduction of the world's advanced production technology and production lines.

At that time, China's export products were mainly agricultural products and primary processing industrial products. There are few electromechanical products and high-tech export products. Although the export volume is large, the foreign exchange is very small. Far from meeting the needs of production and construction. Therefore, local governments regard earning foreign exchange as one of their main tasks. Therefore, the 1980s is also called China's foreign exchange earning period.