Why did silver begin to flow out of China during the opium trade?

Silver began to flow out of China during the opium trade primarily due to a chronic trade imbalance between China and Western nations, particularly Great Britain.12

In the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a massive demand in the West for Chinese luxury goods such as tea, silk, and porcelain. However, China had little interest in Western manufactured goods, meaning European merchants were forced to pay for these Chinese products using gold or silver.132

To reverse this unfavorable trade deficit, the British—led by the East India Company—began exporting opium grown in India to China. This created a steady, widespread demand for the drug among Chinese addicts. As the opium trade flourished, the payments for these imports shifted the balance of trade in favor of Britain. Consequently, the silver that had previously flowed into China to pay for tea was drained from the Chinese economy to pay for the smuggled opium, leading to significant economic disruption and a decline in the value of copper within China’s bimetallic monetary system.1423