ABSTRACT
The licensed compradors and provision purveyors operating in the Pearl River Delta were the predecessors of the compradors that appeared in Hong Kong after the British occupation in 1841. Canton, a city located on the southern coastline of China, had flourished as a centre of trade since the Qing government proclaimed in 1759 that it would be the only port officially open to foreign trade in China. The end of the First Opium War and the subsequent abolition of the Canton System dissolved the licensed comprador system. A number of foreign traders and local Chinese engaged in the contraband trade in the Pearl River Delta before the First Opium War. The end of the First Opium War in 1842 led to the abolition of the Canton System and the end of the Qing government's strict regulation of the foreign trade. From 1842 onwards, the Qing officials no longer defined the functions of the compradors.
