The significant contributions of the Chinese people to the development of world civilisation have been well demonstrated in Joseph Needham’s monumental Science and Civilisation in China series. Over the past two decades, new archaeological discoveries and research have revealed an increasing body of evidence showing that the growth of Chinese civilisation did not happen in isolation, but was the result of complex historical processes involving longstanding and extensive cultural and technological interactions with other civilisations in the world. Taking bronze casting, cast iron and white copper (“Paktong”) as typical examples, this lecture argues from an archaeo-metallurgical perspective that the interaction between China and the outside world has always been a crucial factor in stimulating the growth of Chinese civilisation since its very beginnings. lt is also argued that institutionalized development of technological innovations in ancient China could have been a major driving force behind the growth of Chinese civilisation. The loss of institutionalized technological innovations could have been one of the reasons for the apparent “stagnation” of Chinese civilisation in the pre-modern period since the 16th century AD, which is a key component of Need ham’s well-known puzzle.