Yuan Maritime Trade Office System

Timeline

1. 1322–1324Quanzhou Maritime Trade Office · FujianIn the early 1320s, Quanzhou port still gathered merchant ships from Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean; the Maritime Trade Office collected duties and purchased foreign goods per regulations, and Persian and Arab merchant communities thrived in the port city, showing the Yuan maritime trade administration ran efficiently along the southeast coast.
2. 1327–1330Maritime Trade Offices of Guangzhou and Hangzhou · South ChinaIn the later Yuan, the Maritime Trade Offices at Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and others operated alongside Quanzhou, each handling ship inspections and customs on different routes, forming a multi-node maritime trade regulatory system covering the southeast coast and supporting the dual operation of tributary and private trade.