Foreign Trade in the Early Period of the Qing Dynasty

In 1644, the Manchu army entered the Shanhai Pass, the key military fortification of defense against tribes from Manchuria, and established the Qing Dynasty, the last feudal regime in China. At the turn of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, western colonists from Portugal and Spain came to the southeast coast of China. Their lust for mercantilism and overseas expansion continuously impacted East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and other regions. It destroyed the tributary trade of East Asia that had been dominated by China, and disrupted the original international trade pattern of the Asian continent. During this period, the balance of power within western colonial powers also changed rapidly, with the Netherlands and Britain catching up from behind. Tsarist Russia also advanced swiftly toward the east and began to occupy Chinese territory…