[13][14] With the cession of Hong Kong under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, the firm, by then named Jardine, Matheson & Company, set up its headquarters on the island and grew rapidly, smuggling illegal opium from British-controlled India into China.

[15] Continuing its longstanding trade in smuggled opium, tea, and cotton, the firm diversified into other areas including insurance, shipping, and railways.

By the mid-19th century, the company had become the largest of the hongs or foreign trading conglomerates with offices in all the important Chinese cities as well as Yokohama, Japan.

[16][17] One of its branch agencies, Glover and Co., established in Nagasaki, was known in Japan as an arms dealer who contracted with then-rebel forces from Chōshū Domain who led the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

[18]: 199 In the early decades of the 20th century, Jardines built cotton mills, a press packing plant, and a brewery in Shanghai while expanding into Africa, America, and Australia.

In 1970, Jardine Fleming, the first merchant bank in Asia, opened for business while a real estate company and sugar plantations in Hawaii and the Philippines were acquired.

[21] A presence was re-established on the mainland in 1979 following China's reform and opening up and a year later the firm established the Beijing Air Catering, the first foreign joint venture in the country since 1954.

[23] By 1980, the firm had operations in southern Africa, Australia, China, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, as well as the United States, and employed 37,000 people.

Other significant developments during this decade included the merging of Jardine Insurance Brokers with Lloyd Thompson to form Jardine Lloyd Thompson, the acquisition of a 16% interest in Singapore blue-chip Cycle & Carriage and Dairy Farm’s purchase of a significant stake in Indonesia's leading supermarket group Hero.

Hongkong Land became a Group subsidiary for the first time following a multi-year programme of steady open market purchases while Jardine Pacific raised its interest in Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited from 25% to 42%.

[24] With the coming of a new generation of Keswick family leadership, diversification of assets has slowed down and the firm has focused more on consolidation of existing properties.

[25] Contrary to public perception of the firm avoiding investing into mainland China,[26] preferring instead to seek profits in Southeast Asia, its subsidiary Hongkong Land spent 4.4 billion dollars buying a plot of land in Shanghai which, according to Jonathan Galligan of CLSA, signifies its commitment to doing business in mainland China.

All in all, as of 2021 the company's annual report states that 55% of its profits come from China, as opposed to 42% and 3% earned in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world respectively.

[32][33] Zung Fu is expanding its presence across the growing market of Southern China where it is actively developing a network of Mercedes-Benz dealerships.

[34] In the United Kingdom, Jardine Motors is one of the country's largest retail dealership groups with a portfolio of specialist franchises that includes Aston Martin, Audi and Volkswagen, Jaguar and Land Rover, Mercedes Benz and Porsche.

Established in Hong Kong in 1889 by Sir Paul Chater and William Keswick, the group today has property interests across the region.

As of 8 March 2012[update], Dairy Farm owned 70% of the shares of Lucky Group, the largest grocery mall operator in Cambodia.

In addition, Astra has interests in financial services; heavy equipment and mining; agribusiness; infrastructure and logistics; and information technology.

[50] W. J. Keswick said: "With all due deference to the 'east coast of England' [a reference to Cambridge] I do feel that men from north of the border are the most suitable for our routine business...

The staff of Jardines is predominantly Asian, with senior management levels composed of a mixture of British, Chinese, Indonesians, Europeans, Australians and Americans.