The early history of the modern Jews in China is closely related to the history of the Sassoon family, also known as the "Rothschilds of the East." It commences in the middle of the 19th century when the Treaty Ports were declared open to foreign trade. A certain David Sassoon who settled in Bombay, India, in 1832, established a firm dealing mainly in cotton, tea, opium and silk. In the pre-treaty-ports days he traded with Canton in South China and succeeded in gaining a predominant position ...| www.jewsofchina.org