Foreign engineers played an important role in the development of steel industry in China in the late Qing Dynasty. This paper reviews the participation process of foreign engineers in the engineering construction, the technical guidance and the industrial production of China's iron and steel industry, focusing on the problems such as the way of introduction, the idea of employment and the level of appointment of foreign engineers, as well as the historical role of foreign engineers in the development of China's iron and steel industry. Through the analysis of historical data, this paper suggests that sending engineers was an important means of foreign countries to covet China's coal and steel resources and expand their interests. The multiple identities of foreign engineers in the late Qing Dynasty reflected the complexity of the relationship between China and foreign countries during the Westernization Movement.

foreign engineer  /  steel industry  /  Hanyang iron works  /  Hanyeping company