 The Thirteen Factories were used during the Canton System period to host foreign traders and the products purchased, under the aegis of the "cohong".The Hong (or Factories) were usually owned by hong merchants such as Pan Zhencheng (Poankeequa 1).The Guangzhou Hong changed location several times after fires, and became less important after the First Opium War (18391842), as Guangzhou lost its monopoly of foreign trade and Hong Kong was ceded to the British as a colony.