In the early 1900s, American buyers were eager to own rare treasures, and new sources of economic wealth gave many the ability to pay for such status symbols. Therefore, there were greater efforts to turn the handicraft cottage industry into large-scale rug-weaving concerns in China.

The rugs were also exported to Europe. By the 1920s, the production of Chinese handmade rugs had grown, and many Western buyers sought the popular Tientsin and Peking rug styles that were in high demand at the time.

However, due to diplomatic estrangement with China in the 1940s, regular rug imports to the United States stopped. In the early 1970s, President Richard Nixon traveled to China and reestablished diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries. By 1973, Chinese handmade carpets and rugs were back on the market in the United States. Since then, they have been a distinguished and elegant addition to many high-end homes and businesses. One factor that has made the more modern Chinese hand-knotted rugs so popular is the weavers’ ability to adapt to American preferences for designs and colors.

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