This book argues that Colombia and China have been linked since the earliest Spanish colonial period through a little-known commercial sphere that historiography has largely overlooked. Drawing on primary sources from national archives and tracing scattered references in Chinese historiography, it demonstrates that New Granada—today Colombia and Panama—sustained a consistent commercial relationship with China, particularly through the consumption of diverse textiles.

Revisiting this historical encounter offers a fresh perspective on the economic and cultural dynamics of the eighteenth century, a period traditionally framed as one of mainly European dominance. Evidence from smuggling records and testamentary files in Colombian and Spanish archives shows that New Grenadian society consumed significant quantities of Chinese goods, including silk, angaripolas, and damascos. These findings support two central claims: first, that New Granada actively participated in global markets during the eighteenth century; and second, that Chinese commodities enabled cultivated forms of global sociability within the region.

Hernando Cepeda Sánchez is an associate professor at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. His current research examines colonial Sino–American connections, global trade networks, and eighteenth-century material culture. Drawing on archival sources from Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and China, his work offers new insights into New Granada’s place in global history.