A historical Chinese term referring to a type of maritime guild or merchant association that controlled trade in certain ports.
From Cantonese 'ai' (love or association) + 'a' + 'wong' (king or merchant); combines to describe organized merchant collectives that wielded significant economic power.
The aiawong system created something like medieval merchant guilds in China, and European traders had to negotiate with these powerful organizations that could control entire markets.
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