Chen Qiyuan moved his silk factory to Macau to dodge a local ban

After emigrating to Annam (Vietnam) in 1854, Guangdong merchant Chen Qiyuan observed French-run factories using mechanized silk-reeling equipment that produced silk far faster and more uniformly than the hand-reeling method used across the Pearl River Delta. When he tried to buy the machinery to bring home, foreign manufacturers refused to sell it to him, unwilling to hand a Chinese buyer the technology that gave Western mills their edge.

In 1873 Chen returned to Jiancun village in Nanhai county, Guangdong, and used about 7,000 taels of silver to found Jichanglong, China's first mechanized silk filature run on Chinese capital. It grew fast: from a few dozen workers to over 300 within a year, and to 600-700 later, machine-reeled silk sold for about a third more than hand-reeled silk because it was more uniform and cleaner, and exports went mainly to the United States and Europe.

Relocated the entire operation to Portuguese-administered Macau, where the magistrate's order had no authority, then moved back once local pressure cooled.

The ban was enforced only within Nanhai county, so moving to Macau kept the factory legal.

Macau was close enough to keep supply chains and workers intact, making relocation cheap.

The conflict was local and political, not a universal prohibition, so a safe haven existed.

Returning after the pressure cooled let Chen regain mainland access without losing the business.

When a local authority blocks your operation, look for a nearby jurisdiction where the ban doesn't reach, and relocate temporarily until the pressure subsides.

Machine reeling under Chen's method raised output roughly tenfold over hand reeling while commanding about a one-third price premium, and Jichanglong's workforce grew from a few dozen to over 300 within its first year and to 600-700 after the Macau relocation, according to Guangdong provincial press accounts of the factory's history.