423 years ago today, on March 20, 1602 (February 27, 1602 lunar calendar), the Dutch East India Company was established. The Dutch East India Company was established on March 20, 1602 and dissolved in 1799. The abbreviation is VOC, and the full text of the Chinese text should be translated as United East India Company. The company's logo is V in series with O and C, and the A above is the abbreviation of Amsterdam. During the nearly two hundred years since the Dutch East India Company was established, a total of 1,772 ships were sent overseas, and about 1 million Europeans took 4,789 voyages to Asia. On average, each overseas stronghold had 25,000 employees and 12,000 crew members. The Dutch East India Company was established in the 17th century during the era of great navigation in Europe. At that time, European countries began to take maritime adventures, explore world geography, and develop business opportunities in the open sea. In the 16th century, Portugal had colonies and commercial development in South East Asia. In the 1560s, a group of Dutch merchants sent Haotmann (? -1599) to Portugal to spy on business. After Haotmann returned home, the merchants established a company and used this information to develop in the East India region. From April 1595 to 1602, the Netherlands successively established 14 companies focusing on East India trade. In order to avoid excessive commercial competition, the 14 companies merged and became a joint company, the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch national parliament at that time authorized the Dutch East India Company to have a trade monopoly from the Cape of Good Hope in the east to the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America in the west. The Dutch East India Company was the first to form its own mercenaries, issue currency, and was the first joint stock company to be allowed to make formal treaties with other countries, and to exercise colonization and domination over the land. The Dutch East India Company established its headquarters in Batavia, Java (now Jakarta, Indonesia). By 1669, the Dutch East India Company had become the richest private company in the world, with more than 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, 50,000 employees, and an army of 10,000 mercenaries, with a dividend of up to 40%. The main reason for the dissolution of the Dutch East India Company was the continuous war between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in the 18th century. The war between the two countries between 1780 and 1784 was finally announced on December 31, 1799 due to the economic crisis caused by the decline in domestic demand for Asian goods. The company site is now the University of Amsterdam.