I have this question:
中国经济以往都是什么样的发展模式?
I would like to translate it: China's economy used to use what kind of expansion method?
以 can be 'use' and '往‘ can be 'to' in English, so that ‘used to' and '以往’ seem to be one and the same expression.
Or is the Chinese sense of '以往‘ more just 'use(d) in the past', '往‘ having the meaning 'past', not 'to' and 'used to' just fits conveniently?
以 here means
用在方位词前，表明时间、方位、方向或数量的界限：以前。以内。（from 在线新华字典）
In a way it is similar to -wards suffix, as in backwards, in English.
往 means past.
以往 literally means before this point of time, 'past-wards'.
I just want to add a Chinese idiom.
长 means 'for a long time', 此 means 'like this'
Here, 以往 doesn't mean past, it means in the future
So 长此以往 means "If something is like this for a long time in the future" (something bad will happen)
e.g.
他不喜欢运动，长此以往，他会变得不健康。
He doesn't like exercise, he would be unhealthy if he keeps doing this.
Good luck learning Chinese!
以往 have similar meaning as 以前, which both means "in the past"
舊時 also means "in the past" (but the time is older)
