John Swire returned to Liverpool on 1859. 186 1 year, the civil war broke out in the United States, and the cotton import business of southern States (the main component of their textile trade) was forced to be interrupted, so he began to develop trade with China. Not satisfied with the performance of the business agent hired in China, he decided to take charge of the business in China himself. He arrived in Shanghai on 1866, and in the same year1February 4th, Zilin West Newspaper published an advertisement announcing butterfield &; Taikoo was formally established.
Richard shackleton butterfield, a Yorkshire worsted manufacturer, is one of John Swire's main export customers in Britain. However, their cooperation did not last long, and it ended only after 18 months. Swire later wrote, "He is greedy, which bothers me." . At the request of butterfield, they didn't release the news of terminating the cooperation to the media, and Swire Asia Office has always kept butterfield &; Swire (b&; Until the 1970s. According to the tradition in China, John Swire gave the company a Chinese name-Taikoo Foreign Firm. "Taikoo" has a large scale and a long history, and this name has been widely known in Asia.