Throughout the history of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, some large foreign firms can represent their own countries to a certain extent, but now they have rarely heard of it! What is that? Talk about history "Foreign firm" is a variety of line numbers established by foreign businessmen in old China, mainly engaged in import and export trade. Later, it also expanded to industrial, mining, railway and other production fields. According to the available information, the earliest foreign firm in China was Cox Reid & Co, which was established in Guangzhou in 1782 (the forty-seventh year of Qianlong) (the British East India Company established the foreign firm in Guangzhou in 17 15). Since then, the number of foreign agencies has developed rapidly, reaching more than 150 on the eve of the Opium War, and British businessmen Chaton and Diandi are in a monopoly position. These foreign companies are mainly engaged in illegal opium trade. Big line companies generally have their own flying shears fleet and insurance institutions. After the Opium War and before the Second Opium War, foreign firms still mainly relied on opium smuggling, plundering Chinese laborers, trafficking in human beings and other violent plunder means to accumulate wealth. Foreign companies are also engaged in smuggling trade. It was violent plunder that laid the foundation of foreign firms' wealth, and the monopoly position of many foreign firms was formed during this period. After the Second Opium War, due to the expansion of trading ports and the acquisition of inland navigation rights, foreign trade with China expanded rapidly, and foreign investors invested in ship transportation, ship repair, dock storage, insurance, banking and commodity trade processing and manufacturing services. Some foreign-funded groups have begun to take shape, such as Jardine Matheson, a famous British businessman. While expanding their agency scale, they have maintained capital relations with Hong Kong Huangpu Wharf Company, Hong Kong Fire Insurance Company, Jardine Matheson Bank, Hong Kong Wharf Company and Shanghai Shuntai Wharf Company. Qichang foreign firm, an American merchant, mainly focuses on the transportation trade of Qichang steamship company, as well as Yangzi Insurance Company, Qicheng Shipyard and other enterprises. These large foreign companies have become a new generation of "super rich". After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the influence of foreign firms expanded unprecedentedly, from 552 in191(the third year of Xuantong) to 2,863, and from 19 13 to 3,805. Among them, the fastest growing is the Japanese foreign firm, which has far surpassed Britain and ranked first before the Revolution of 1911. Acting as an agent for import and export trade is still the main business of foreign firms, and its influence has spread all over the vast inland areas, and there are also illegal activities of foreign firms in non-trade port areas in the mainland. The arms trade has developed into an important part of the agency business of foreign companies. 1905 (thirty-one year of Guangxu), Yuan Shikai ordered arms worth 2 million taels from German businessmen at one time. During this period, capital export played an increasingly important role in foreign firms' business, mainly including political and military loans to the Qing government, industrial loans from various places and railway loans. According to statistics, from 1894 to 19 12, the Qing government borrowed as much as 1200 million yuan from Kuping Bank. Although foreign banks are the main participants, there are also a large number of foreign banks participating. Some banks have their own investments or are founded by foreign banks, and they are closely related to foreign banks, while some loans are fully lent by foreign banks. Foreign firms have also continuously invested and set up factories, and their business scope has gone far beyond the industries that served commodity trade before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and entered important production fields such as textile, mining, smelting, tobacco and railway construction. Through these investments, foreign companies exploited and plundered the people of China and controlled the economic lifeline of China. During the rule of Beiyang government and Kuomintang government, the expansion of foreign firms reached its peak, covering almost every town and hinterland in China, and its business scope was almost all-encompassing. After War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory, the Japanese foreign firm's organization and business in China were accepted by the Kuomintang government. On the eve of national liberation, foreign companies from Britain, the United States and other countries withdrew from the mainland. After liberation, many foreign companies still maintain various trade relations with Chinese mainland.