This research analyses the effect of foreign trade on economic performance of the late Qing China. A new dataset of the adjusted Chinese trade series from 1867 to 1913 has been created using the data from the Chinese Maritime Customs. GDP estimations from 1860 to 1912 are from Ma and de Jong's recent study. Foreign trade of China expanded moderately during the first wave of globalisation, while the exports to GDP ratio shows that exports only made up a small proportion of total production. Nonetheless, the results, obtained from both static and dynamic analysis, are generally supportive of the export-led growth. Interestingly, the unskilled exports and skilled imports played significant roles in promoting growth in the late Qing China, in particular in its modernisation process.