A Study Of The British East India Company’s Tea Trade With China Before1834

This thesis investigates the British East India Company’s tea trade histroy of rise and prosperity from the17th Century to the first30years of19th Century. It focuses on the perspective of the own efforts of the Company,the support of the goverment, the social background and so on, all of these contributed to the development of the tea trade with China.On the other hand, it tries to search the charecteristics of British commercial expansion to China in the early years and the relationship between China and Britain, meanwhile it reveals the profound influence of tea trade on the economy, political and social life of the Britain during the period. The special contents of each part are as follows:In the first part, it investigates the general situation of the British East India Company’s tea trade with China before1834,and outlines the development of the tea trade:for the most years of the17th century, the Company just imported the tea from other places instead of directly from China. Since the first half of the18th century, the way of tea trade changed, the Company purchased the tea from China directly.And in the last half of the18th century, the centre gravity of the Company’s trade with the orient totally shifed to China because of the tea. From then on,the Company’s tea trade with China got into the stage of boom. In the second part, it discusses the measures taken by the British East India Company to develop tea trade with China.It focuses on the good management, the competitive salary and the charter given by the British government so that the company could maintain the monopoly of the tea trade with China.Meanwhile the Company tried to solve the problem of capital shortage on their own and by Opium trade with China.In the third part, it examines the British government’s support on the British East India Company’s tea trade with China by diplomacy and tax policy, and concludes the complicated reasons why the government tends to do so.In the fourth part, it mainly illustrates the influences of the British East India Company’s tea trade with China, which includes the influnces on the British economy, the development of culture, and the postive effects on the social life of the British. Besides, it concludes the negative influence on its business expansion overseas, and lastly, the influence on the relationship between Britain and China due to the tea trade.