SWIRE'S 200TH ANNIVERSARY
The year 2016 marks two very significant milestones for Swire: it is the group's 200th anniversary and it is also 150 years since Swire first opened an office in China. There are older firms around the world, but few perhaps have built such a diverse portfolio of business interest from scratch.
Our journey, spanning 200 years, six continents, five industry sectors, and countless like-minded individuals, began in Liverpool in 1816, where our founder, John Swire, established a small import-export business focused on textiles between the UK and US. His sons, John Samuel and William Hudson Swire, took the business overseas and opened offices in Melbourne, Shanghai, Yokohama, Hong Kong and New York, setting the foundation for what Swire is today.