A tai-pan (Chinese: 大班) was an influential foreign businessman doing business in China or Hong Kong in the 19th century. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders The Chinese term is now used in a more general sense for business executives of any origin. The Chinese term literally means big class which is equivalent to the English term big shot.

The name was commonly used to refer to high-powered business executives and entrepreneurs in Hong Kong when it was under British control, referring to those in charge of major companies such as Jardine Matheson. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (,) often called Jardines or Jardine's (怡和 is a Multinational corporation that is incorporated in