2.2 Foreign Trade in Guangzhou

In the interim period between the Ming and Qing dynasties, China prohibited traders from setting sail overseas, and trade in Guangzhou (Canton) quickly declined.

In 1685 the Qing government officially lifted the ban. Foreign trade was resumed and Customs offices were established at Guangzhou, Zhangzhou, Ningbo and Yuntai Shan.

In 1757 the Qing government, anxious to close strategic coastal places to foreigners, designated Guangzhou as their only port and introduced a set of restrictive regulations.

Foreigners were permitted to trade in Guangzhou only during the trading season, after which they had to leave China altogether, usually withdrawing to Macau.

The Qing government restricted trade with foreigners to certain Chinese merchants, the Hong merchants, and their firms were the so-called "Thirteen Hongs". In 1720 this arrangement became the Co-hong system.

Its role was broadened to include collecting Customs declarations from foreign merchants, communicating between them and the government, and even overseeing surveillance of their activities.

Foreign merchants' dissatisfaction with trade conditions in Guangzhou grew with the Hong merchants' exploitation of such wide-ranging powers, which were never relaxed despite many protests.

Credit : History Museum of HK.