Chinese rice trade and shipping from the North Vietnamese Port of Hai Phong

This overview of Chinese trade in northern Vietnam explores the role of the Chinese rice traders there, especially in Hải Phòng, and their connections with Hong Kong and southern China, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It shows they were never mere colonial middlemen but economic actors with ties to German and English business interests as well as to the French. The article traces what various primary sources can tell us of their community and business history, as well as revealing the intricate business ties of Chinese rice exporters in colonial Hải Phòng with German shipping companies, up until World War One.