Great Britain traded opium as a means to obtain valuable commodities, especially tea, from China. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the British East India Company, a British trading company, began smuggling opium from British-controlled regions such as India into China. They did this to counterbalance the trade imbalance caused by the high demand for Chinese goods, particularly tea, in Britain. The opium trade provided a lucrative and profitable enterprise for the British, enabling them to acquire the desired Chinese goods and ultimately expand their influence in the region.
