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I don’t believe slavery was ever as prevalent in China as in Europe. Complex rice farming discourage the use of slaves. Chinese farmers usually had a more independent position than in Europe. European peasants ran away to towns in medieval times for a reason.

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Slavery has a long and rich history in Asia, including china. (N.b., unrelated but all Thai people were enslaved to the monarchy)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_China

They point out it was not chattel slavery though. But labour costs certainly must have played a role. Adam Smith remarked in his book the Wealth of Nations that Chinese workers seems to have much lower pay despite China being no less developed economically.

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