China's direct foreign trade with European countries began in the 16th century, with economic partners the Portuguese (1517) who settled in Canton (southeast of China), in 1550 they founded the city of Macau. by the Spanish in the Philippines (1565), they founded Manila in 1571. These countries are particularly motivated by a missionary objective. The Dutch position in Indonesia, Batavia (now Jakarta), was first established in Penghu (1603) next to Taiwan and Taiwan. (1624). The Russians are approaching by land. In 1685, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1723), an imperial edict authorized the opening of all Chinese ports to foreign ships, the first ship arrived in Canton in 1689. However, this trade was very limited because subject to very strict rules: taxes for foreign traders obliged to go through a single intermediary (the emperor's merchant), who collected taxes on behalf of the State. In 1720, this intermediary was replaced by a collegial body: the Co-hong. Under the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1796), trade policy was reversed, it was limited in its scale and intensity. In 1757, an imperial edict specified that the Co-hong would henceforth set the prices and quantities of goods exchanged, the maritime borders would be closed (except Canton) and that foreigners would not be able to settle wherever they wanted in Canton (not the right to learn Chinese). , the aim being to avoid direct contact. China is a rather closed empire on itself, as well as commercially in the field of exchange of ideas and innovations. This is due to the strict protectionism applied by the imperial bureaucracy, supported ideologically both by elites, anxious not to undermine the traditional rites of a very conservative (or delicate) society and of the p...... middle paper...... on land, opium depots are transferred to Huangpu. In 1809, an administrative measure was taken to try to hinder the traffic: ships unloading at Huangpu had to provide a certificate specifying that there was no opium on board. The corruption that reigns among civil servants does not allow the strict application of these measures. Nothing seemed to diminish or stop a lucrative trade: in 1813, a crate of Indian opium sold for 2,400 rupees (cost 240 rupees). In 1821, a new decree announced that Chinese trade was no longer possible towards Huangpu, the market moved to Lingding where it would develop from 1821 to 1839. The British East India Company decided to bypass the ban and increases its illegal opium production. sales in China to 100 tons increasing from 1,800 to 2,600 tons in 1838. British trade in China finally became surplus in 1835 there were 2 million opium smokers in China.