Matthew E. CHEN
Jardine Matheson Group is an Asia-based conglomerate and the oldest of the original Hong Kong trading firms. The firm played an instrumental role in the opium trade in China, which resulted in the Opium Wars and the establishment of the British colony of Hong Kong.
Building on earlier trading networks, Scottish entrepreneurs William Jardine (1784–1843) and James Matheson (1796–1878) founded Jardine Matheson near Guangzhou (Canton) in 1832. After the British Parliament’s