东南亚华人网络与早期中英贸易的发展

The Network of Chinese in Southeast Asia and the Early Development of Chinese-British Trade

早期中英贸易的发展因遭遇中国传统朝贡贸易体制的阻滞而陷入困境,利用和参与亚洲区间贸易便成为英商开拓对华贸易行之有效的途径,遍布东南亚的华人网络成为英国扩展对华贸易的重要资源。华人网络在商业信息搜集、海峡产品生产开发、航运网络利用等方面,为英国早期对华贸易的发展做出了重要贡献。

Early Chinese--British trade came into a difficult situation because of the traditional Chinese tribute trade system. Utilizing and participating in the Asian regional trade thus became an effective means from British businessmen to develop trade with China, and the network of Chinese spread throughout the Southeast Asia was an important resource for expanding trade with China. The network of Chinese contributed greatly to early British--Chinese trade in terms of collection of com- mercial information, the development of marine products and the utilization of the navigation network.