Researches in Chinese Economic History No. 03, 171–181, 2018 ©2018 China Academic Journals (CD Edition) Electronic Publishing House Co., Ltd. About the author: LI Qing, Postdoctoral Researcher, Assistant Researcher at School of History, College of Humanities, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028. E-mail: adamleehistoria@foxmail.com Translated by LI Mengling and edited by WANG Liting. Supported by Youth Project of the National Social Science Fund of China (17CSS008) Citation: LI Qing. Trade and its historical trend between China and the Philippines in the late Ming Dynasty: an analysis on the almojarifazgo data, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2018 (03): 171–181. Trade and its historical trend between China and the Philippines in the late Ming Dynasty: an analysis on the almojarifazgo data LI Qing School of Humanities, Zhejiang University Abstract With its opening in the 1570s, the trade between China and the Philippines began to grow speedily, and a large amount of silver flowed from the newly discovered America into China. In order to gain more profits from this trade, Governor of the Philippines, Gonzalo Ronquillo de Pe1alosa, carried out the new customs policy known as almojarifazgo in 1581. This new tax policy had been well implemented through the next several decades though there were some changes of the tax rates. Based on an analysis of almojarifazgo data stored by AGI, the aim of the present research was to examine annual scale and historical development of this trade from 1591 to 1644. The total amount of American silver flowing into China could also be reestimated. Keywords China in the late Ming Dynasty, Spanish Philippines, almojarifazgo, trade data In the Age of Discovery, Spain continued to expand westward of the Atlantic Ocean in accordance with the relevant laws of the “Padroado Real” and eventually crossed the American continent, across the Pacific Ocean. In 1565 and 1571, a colonial fortress and trade front station were built in places neighboring China—Cebu and Manila of the Philippines