一口通商对早期中英贸易的影响

清初,清政府沿袭明代的海禁政策,对外贸易的主要形式为朝贡贸易。1684年,康熙皇帝开海禁,设立江浙闽粤四海关,管理对外贸易。但四口通商对早期的中英贸易影响甚微,一方面是因为英国没有被清政府纳入朝贡体系,英商不享受相应的优待政策。对于缺少贸易中转站又不了解中国市场行情的英国商船来说,即便到达四口也难以售出货物,更无力购买大宗的中国商品。另一方面,四口都缺乏同英商长期贸易的准备,一时难以组织英商所需的货源。为了加强对英商的管理,1757年,乾隆皇帝将中英贸易限定于广州一地,并推行公行制度。同年,东印度公司职能发生转变,实力强大的“公司国家”垄断中国与欧洲的茶叶贸易,中英贸易进入大发展时期,鸦片贸易成为东印度公司平衡收支的重要筹码。

The Influence of One-port-foreign-trade on Early Anglo-Chinese Trade

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Qing government followed the sea voyages. The major form of overseas trade was the tribute. Emperor Kangxi 1684.Qing government set up four customs to supervise the overseas trade. influence on early Anglo-Chinese trade. On the one hand Britain wasn＇t b precedent policy of forbidding opened trade to the world in But the opening of four ports had no rought into the tributary system and the merchants of Britain weren＇t given relevant preferential treatment. The British merchants, who knew little about China＇s market, had great difficulty in selling their products even when they reached the four ports and could not afford the bulk of Chinese goods. On the other hand, four trading ports weren＇t all ready to the longterm trade with the merchants of Britain and had no capability of supplying British merchants with goods within a short period of time. Therefore, the trade between China and Britain was confined to Guangzhou in 1757. Sup Sum Hung were pursued for strengthening the management of British merchants. The functions of The East India Company were transformed in 1757. The powerful ＂corporation state＂ monopolized the tea trade between China and Europe. Thus, Anglo-Chinese trade began to develop. The East India Company used the opium trade to balance revenue and expenditure.