During the academic year 2019-2020, GECEM has undertaken several academic initiatives
and presented preliminary results to further the project¿s goals. These include interdisciplinary studies, Open Science research which is accessible to the world, and expanding knowledge of Sino-European international relations, particularly the economic ties between both regions as well as socio-cultural transfers. The above areas stand out as the main pillars supporting the project¿s objective of comprehending past, present, and forseeable issues in China-Europe relations and finding solutions for current and even future problems, today. For example, the analysis of consumer behaviour, market integration between China and Europe, the so-called ¿early globalization¿ and circulation of global goods in Chinese and European markets during the Qing dynasty, sheds light upon and approaches the great divergence debate and the factors of northwestern Europe¿s take-off and China¿s economic stagnation in the first Industrial Revolution from a totally different perspective.

The global history perspective and comparison research between Eurocentric and
Sinocentric methods on economic history give us new perspective on the topic of
European-Chinese trade during early modern period. Compared with the large number
of researches on the consumption society of Western Europe around the 18th century
about the goods from Eastern world like tea, silk, and porcelain, very few researches
have been done about the European commodities in Eastern countries. Especially, the
studies on consumption of European wine in China market during the 17th and 18th
centuries is completely void. Therefore, based on the economic conditions of southern
and eastern China, considered the geographical, political and cultural aspects, several
questions and hypothesis are designed, including consumption groups of the European
wine, the consumer volumes, consumption habits, wine market shares, the merchant
groups¿ role, etc. The research will be down upon the cross-referencing of primary data
and the materials, along with the application of database.

Historiography about Asian goods consumption in Early Modern Europe has advanced in the understanding of how these commodities changed consumption patterns and production in Europe. Global History indisputably has contributed with a theoretical perspective in this achievement. However, in this literature lacks more studies in the long term and in more specific geographical units. This research intends to contribute with a case study in two specific European ports: Marseille and Seville. The study is about the consumption of Chinese silk fabrics in 1680 ¿ 1840 period and has as aim find the way like these commodities change the taste and pattern of consumption in local population preparing the receipt of Silk fabrics with Chinese taste made in Europe in an import substitution process. An innovation in the research is the use of Chinese sources and the database of GECEM project.

The present newsletter constitutes a detailed report of the activities conducted by the research group from summer 2017 to spring 2018. The GECEM (Global Encounters between China and Europe: Trade Networks, Consumption and Cultural Exchanges in Macau and Marseille, 1680-1840) project, ref. 679371, is funded by the ERC (European Research Council)-Starting Grant, Horizon 2020 (European Union funding for Research & Innovation of the European Commission) being the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville (Spain) the European host institution (see www.gecem.eu).