16世紀馬尼拉是東南亞重要的國際貿易港口，同時也使中國海處造訪次數最多的港口之一。1570年西班牙人佔據馬尼拉後，立即展開與中國之間的貿易，由於美洲白銀對中國海商的強大吸引力以及菲律賓殖民地在物資、商品上的匱乏，馬尼拉貿易在16、17世紀取得決速的發展。隨著貿易的興盛，雙方投入的資金、商貨、時間迅速增加，但是在16世紀末、17世紀初，中國海商在馬尼拉港口停泊貿易的時間卻不增反減：從1588年長達半年的停留時間，逐漸縮短到1609年時的2-3個月。本文認為要了解這樣的現象必須由中國海商在馬尼拉的兩項主要活動－轉口性質的大帆船貿易與和地方市場連結的馬尼拉零售貿易談起。轉口貿易性質的大帆船貿易由於需要配合每年由西屬美洲前來的西班牙大帆船船期及其載來的大量白銀資本，而且又屬於短期、交易時間集中的貿易活動，顯然不太可能是造成中國海商停泊馬尼拉時間縮短的主因。馬尼拉的零售貿易則相當不一樣，零售貿易需要長時間去經營零碎的買賈。在西班牙人佔據馬尼拉之徒的數年間，移民到馬尼拉的華人人數不多，零售貿易與大帆船貿易一樣由中國海商掌握、經營，因此販售日用品、糧食等零售商品的中國海商每每需要在馬尼拉花上大量的時間才能將運來的貨物賣出。不過隨著華人移民不斷的進入馬尼拉，再加上馬尼拉「八連市場」工商業的快速崛起，使市內的零售業主控權漸漸從中國海商手中轉入華人移民手中。此復原本經營零售的中國海商不在需要在馬尼拉花時間兜售運來的商品，因此相當程度的減少了中國海商需要在馬停泊的時間。

During the 16(superscript th) century, Manila was a very important international trade port in Southeast Asia, and also one of those which Chinese sea traders visit the most. The Spaniard started the trade with Chinese right after their capture of Manila in 1570. Because of the thirst for silver in China and the absence of goods and materials in the Philippines, the trade between the Chinese and Manila rose in the 16(superscript th) and 17(superscript th) century. Along with the rise of the Manila trade, money, goods and time were injected, but in the last few years of 16th century, the lime that Chinese merchant ships stay at the port of Manila didn't increase with the scale of the bargain, instead it became shorter ever since. In 1588, the Chinese merchants stayed in Manila to run their business for about half a year, but in 1609 when the Manila trade was bigger in scale, the amount of time they spend slipped down to 2 to 3 mouths. To discuss this unusual matter, we have to start with the two main activities the Chinese merchants do in Manila: the transit trade of the Manila Galleon and the local retail sale of the city. The Manila Galleon business counts on the arrival of the galleons from Spanish-America and the huge amount of Mexican silver it carries, it also takes only a short period of time when the galleons arrive from Mexico, based on this characteristic, it can not be the main reason of this time shrink problem. In the other hand, the local retail sale takes a lot of time to manage. In the early years of the Spanish rule in Manila, the number of Chinese incomers which became the main rote in the local retail sale was still small, the Chinese sea traders controlled both the international trade and the local retail sale. This control of the retail trade would keep the sea traders in port for a long time just to sale their cargo piece by piece. With the number of Chinese incomers increasing every year and the fast rise of the Silk Market in Manila, in time, the retail trade in the city was no longer in the hands of the Chinese sea traders. This change of the retail trade, made it possible for the Chinese sea traders to lessen the time they spend in Manila when they manage their international trade.