Question

why did english east india company loose their trade with china ?

Answer 1

• In the late eighteenth century, Britain was trading with China for tea and silk
• Tea became hugely popular in Britain and it had to import about 30 million pounds of tea every year by 1830s.
• In return, Britain had no commodity that China wanted in large quantities. As a result, a lot of silver was flowing out of Britain to buy tea from China
• The East India Company saw the opportunity in opium and started smuggling large quantities of opium to China that were derived from Indian plantations, in lieu of tea.
• By1820s, smuggled opium left millions of Chinese addicted to it.
• In 1839, the Chinese emperor Lin Ze-xu arrested 1600 men involved in the trade and confiscated and burnt 11000 pounds of opium, triggering the First Opium War.