Chinese merchants were around before Philippines became a Spanish colony, but became prominent during the Manila Galleon Trade. The Manila Galleons (Galeon de Manila) were Spanish trading ships that sailed once or twice per year across the Pacific Ocean between Manila in Spanish East Indies (present day-Philippines), and Acapulco, New Spain (present-day Mexico). The trade can be called global since it involved Chinese silk and Spanish silver from China and Latin America. This study analyzes the role of merchant activities of ethnic Chinese in the Manila Galleon Trade of 1571-1815 during Spanish Colonial rule. Economic activity during the period suggests that the Chinese Mestizo were capable of distribution, trade, and finance and that they acted as mediators between the farming and fishing Indio (native Filipinos) and the trading and financing Spanish. From the Spanish Government`s perspective, the Chinese (special foreigners) were able to assimilate into the Chinese Mestizo. They later adapted to the Catholic culture of Spain to emerge as a leading group of the Philippines.