The  early period of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) brought a setback to Ningbo's development. Overseas trade was deliberately curtailed  by the government and the building of oceangoing ships prohibited,  and even coastal trade was severely restricted. Ningbo was attacked  by Japanese pirates, and it became a defensive base of some importance.  Its growth seems to have stagnated, however, until the last quarter  of the 15th century, when the rural prosperity of its hinterland  began to recover.

This recovery was assisted when the Portuguese  began trading in Ningbo in 1545, at first illicitly, but later (after  1567) legally. Still later, Dutch and British merchants arrived,  and the Ningbo merchants began to trade with the China coast from  Manchuria to Canton, as well as with the Philippines and Taiwan.  Ningbo was the commercial centre of the coastal plain to the east  of Shaoxing and an outport for the Yangtze River Delta area, to  which it was linked by the Zhedong Canal leading to Shaoxing and  the Qiantang River. As a result, in the 17th and 18th centuries  the Ningbo merchants became important in China's internal commerce  and began to play a national role as bankers in the early 19th century.  In 1843 Ningbo was opened to foreign trade as a treaty port, but  trade declined, and its place was taken by Shanghai.

Ningbo ranked with Yangzhou and Guangzhou as the  three biggest ports for foreign trade in Tang Dynasty and with Guangzhou  and Quanzhou in Song Dynasty. In the early 20th century "Hong-band"  tailors from Ningbo traveled extensively throughout China making  their living. And now, Ningbo port is still one of the most important  ports in China. Its cargo handling capacity reached 150 million  tonnages in 2002, ranking second among the ports in the mainland  of China, and its container handling capacity amounted to 1,855,000  TEU.

As it enjoys a sound infrastructural basis, Ningbo  has scored remarkable achievements in its social and economic development  since the beginning of reform and opening up. In 2002, the city's  GDP reached RMB150.03 billion, among which the per capita GDP makes  up 3331 dollars, the revenue RMB 25.8 billion. The average disposable  income of urban dwellers grew to RMB12,969.9 and the net income  of farmers climbed to RMB5,764. Nowadays, Ningbo has become an important  industrial city and foreign trade port in east China, a key city  and chemical industrial base in the Yangtze River delta and an economic  centre of Zhejiang Province.

Of a typical subtropical monsoon climate, Ningbo  features mild temperature with moderate humidity and distinctive  seasons, and it is an ideal resort to enjoy both natural and cultural  endowment. A tranquil coastal city, Ningbo's 500-km coastline forms  a scenic seascape. The Sun and the Moon Lakes, dug in the seventh  century, are a particularly beautiful sight. The people of Ningbo  have throughout their history had a deep affinity for the ocean.

Ningbo has great potentials in its development.  Since China adopted the policy of reform and opening, the Ningbo  people have pursued the trends of this new era. Visitors may witness  the dramatic changes that have taken place in this city: widened  roads, more diverse styles of dress on the part of the local people,  and Mandarin gradually supplanting the local Ningbo dialect. Ningbo  is an active participant in the progressive world trend. By the  year 2010, Ningbo will be modernised into a more open international  port city that boasts even stronger economy, more advanced science  and culture, greater affluence and better social fabrics and environment.