425 years ago today, on December 31, 1600 (November 26, 1600, the 1600 lunar calendar), Queen Elizabeth I of England authorized the formation of the world's first joint-stock company. British East India Company On December 31, 1600 (28th year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty), Queen Elizabeth I of England authorized the establishment of the world's first joint-stock company-the British East India Company (British EastIndia Company, chief criminal of the Colonial India and the Opium War), raised gold coins by selling stocks to organize an armed fleet, followed the Europe-Indian route discovered by Portugal Da Gama in 1499, circumvented the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and headed to "Asia full of gold" for commodity trade and colonial plunder. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was founded in Amsterdam. In 1609, the Netherlands established the world's first stock exchange-the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. In the same year, the first modern bank in Europe, Bank of Amsterdam, was also established. The "East India Company" established one after another in Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, France and other countries is an early prototype of the world's multinational corporations. However, these commercial groups, armed by troops and gunboats, actually became the main force in Europe's colonial expansion into Asia. In 1613, the British East India Company established a trading post in Sutra, India. In 1624, the Dutch East India Company occupied my country's Taiwan island. In 1661, it was expelled from the country by Zheng Chenggong's army of 25,000. The picture shows the headquarters building built by the British East India Company on Leadenhall Street in London in 1729 and demolished in 1861. The current location is the core area of the City of London. The company system, joint-stock system, stocks, stock exchanges and global colonial plunder laid the organizational system, financial support and market foundation for European industrialization.