Canton (Guangzhou) Trading System (around 1796)

Explain why the British were unhappy with the Guangzhou (Canton) trading system.

At the time of the first opium war, the British had to deal with large tariffs, bribes, and taxes, being restricted to a single port with many living restrictions, and an alien system of law. For a majority of the time preceding 1760 all ports were technically open to British trade, however they faced the same restrictions as Guangzhou . Starting in 1757 the Chinese government imposed large duties at Ningpo and other northern ports making them heavier than Guangzhou in order to restrict trade. In 1759 James Flint, a British merchant, defied custom by writing a memorial directly to Emperor Ch’ien-lung defying custom. In response the emperor restricted all British Trade hence forth to Guangzhou.
At Guangzhou the British had a series of difficulties. Guangzhou was an old port full of corruption. The East India Company’s first ship to the port in 1689 had to pay a “gratuity” of 300 taels ...