Linking an Asian Transregional Commerce in Tea

Current historical work on the international tea trade has focused on the Sino-British trade and the impact of capitalism and modern technology on tea production in India and Ceylon. These studies have overlooked the changes that were afoot in the Fujian tea industry and the problems with conducting the trade with the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Using the Fujian-Singapore trade as an illustration and drawing on Chinese-language archival materials, this book looks at the state of tea production in Fujian; the overseas Chinese tea merchants and the fluctuations of the trade during the period of political instability in China; the Sino-Japanese War; decolonisation in Singapore; and the period of collectivisation in China and the Cold War.

Jason Lim, PhD (2007) in History and Asian Studies, University of Western Australia, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at the National University of Singapore. His research interest includes the historical interactions between China and Southeast Asia.

"[...] the book is an important contribution and should be welcome to specialists in several areas of studies, especially to China and Southeast Asia business, and in Cold War studies."
– Wu Xiao An, Peking University, in Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (2011).

"[...] this book helps us understand more about migration and identity, war and trade, the overseas Chinese, and intra-Asian trade."
– Man-houng Lin, Institute of Modern History, Academic Sinica, in Southeast Asian Studies 1.3 (2012).