Smoking of opium in China had come on the heels of tobacco smoking and may have been encouraged by a brief ban on the smoking of tobacco by the Ming emperor, ending in 1644 with the Qing dynasty, which had encouraged smokers to mix in increasing amounts of opium.

The smoking of opium soon becomes popular throughout China.

Opium addiction increases, and opium importations from India grow rapidly.

Britain and other European nations undertake the opium trade because of their chronic trade imbalance with China during the eighteenth century.

There is tremendous demand in Europe for Chinese tea, silks, and porcelain, but there is correspondingly little demand in China for Europe's manufactured goods and other trade items.

Consequently, Europeans must pay for Chinese products with gold or silver.

The opium trade, which creates a steady demand among Chinese addicts for opium imported by the West, solves this chronic trade imbalance.