Macau as a centre for Chinese control of the European “barbarians”
Macau as a centre for Chinese control of the European “barbarians”
The Emperor of China, with the aim of gathering profits from trade with the foreigners, all the while attempting to keep them as far away as possible from mainland China, proposed to the Portuguese that foreign trade be centralized in Macau in 1719, and again in 1733. The senate refused both times, stating that the foreigners corrupted the city’s morals and that their permanent residence in the city reduced the Macau trading community’s power to manoeuvre and weakened their privileged position. Instead, they prefer to derive their income from import duties offered by the Emperor of China to the city and from renting the names of Portuguese trading businesses to the British, since Portuguese law banned foreigners from owning landed properties and opening businesses in Macau. The Chinese meanwhile established the co-hong to regulate foreign trade, which turned into a cartel in 1760.
Keywords: European Barbarians, Centralized trade, Import duties, House-renting, Co-hong, Cartel, Emperor of China, Macau, China, British Overseas
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