Japan pioneered corporate group formation in East Asia in 1860s to early 1900s. To build a prosperous economy, the 1860s Japanese government imported entire steel mills, parts-making factories, defense works and other industries from USA, UK, and Germany. Imports included engineering trainers. Once profitable, the government sold the industries to local elites at low prices and long-term installment. Since elite families were few, they cornered the deals, in the process creating corporate groups (zaibatsu) that numbered scores of companies per family. The zaibatsu soon captured large chunks of the Korean, Chinese and other Pacific Rim markets, in the process lifting the Japanese masses' living standards to a great degree. Japanese industries' need for raw materials however led to the Japanese armed forces' conquest of Pacific Rim nations from 1942 to '45. Japan was roundly defeated and occupied by US forces in 1945, which spelled the end of the zaibatsu