Chinese Tea Export Trade

Timeline

1. c. 1610–1650Xiamen · Fujian ProvinceDutch East India Company ships purchased green tea from Fujian and Guangdong and carried it back to Batavia and Amsterdam; tea first entered the European market as a bulk commodity, at high prices and only for upper-class consumption.
2. 1661–1670London · EnglandCharles II and Queen Catherine introduced the tea-drinking custom to the English court; in the 1660s Chinese tea became fashionable in London coffeehouses and elite salons, the East India Company's tea imports surged, and the China tea trade became one of the company's core profit sources.
3. c. 1757–1839Guangzhou · Guangdong ProvinceThe Qing government restricted Western merchant ships to trading only at Guangzhou, where the Thirteen Hongs merchants monopolized tea export distribution; Wuyi rock tea and Huizhou green tea were shipped from the Pearl River Delta to London and Boston, bringing Chinese tea exports to a historic peak.