Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c4.s2.111

v1.c4.s2.111

The revival of the maritime trade with China led to groups of merchants from India arriving on the China coast. In the early stages, they came mainly from the Parsi community and also the Baghdadi Jewish community based in Bombay and some Muslim Bohra and Ismaili traders. With the opening of treaty ports after the First Opium War and the growth of Hong Kong as a port, many of them took up more or less permanent residence in China. From the import-export trade, their interests diversified to include other lines of business in eastern China’s port cities, including banking, real estate, manufacturing and share brokerage. The 20^th century CE saw increasing numbers of people from the Marwari and Sindhi communities arriving in Hong Kong and China’s port cities.