Howqua

Wu Bingjian, known to Westerners as Howqua, was noted as the wealthiest and most powerful of the Cohong merchants in the Thirteen Factories of Canton.

Howqua was a third son of Fujian businessman, Wu Guorong who established the family trading company known as Haoguan. He assumed the leadership of the family company in 1789 and soon became the leading merchant in Canton. Since he was very cautious in all his dealings he gained the nickname the “Timid Old Lady”.

Howqua exchanged silk, porcelain, tea and other products with the English East India Company and American firms in Boston in exchange for silver. The foreign merchants had a great respect for him and called him “the most remarkable native known to foreigners” praising his business virtues like honesty and shrewdness. Part of this admiration was certainly won through his lending activities to financially less secure foreigners in order to help them establish their businesses. Howqua was also involved in opium trade, but in 1820's he tactfully withdrew from the opium trade.

By 1834 Fowqua was the richest merchant in China and most likely the richest man on Earth at the time, surpassing even the famous Rothschilds. His personal fortune was estimated to exceed £6 million sterling which was equal to $56 million in American currency then and worth more than £300 million or $600 million in 2010.