In 1995, historians Dennis O. Flynn and Arturo Giráldez published a seminal article in the Journal of World History entitled “Born with a ‘Silver Spoon’: The Origin of World Trade in 1571.”
Global trade emerged with the founding of Manila in 1571, at which time all important populated continents began to exchange products continuously. The silver market was key to this process. China became the dominant buyer because both its fiscal and monetary systems had converted to a silver standard; the value of silver in China surged to double its worth in the rest of the world. Microeconomic analysis leads to startling conclusions. Both Tokugawa Japan and the Spanish empire were financed by mining profits–profits that would not have existed in the absence of end-customer China. Europeans were physically present in early modern Asia, but the economic impact of China on Western lands was far greater than any European influence on Asia.
SOURCE: Journal of World History 6 (1995): 201-221
Far Outliers 
Reblogged this on Acts of the New Commonwealth and commented:
Ancient history or current events?
Global trade that included Christian Europe would have begun in 1571, but global trade that included Muslim Europe would have been going on way before that. In fact, Christian Europeans would have had access to maps and knowledge about trade routes through the merchants and scientists of Muslim Spain and Africa.