More than 80 percent of the Hainanese people traced their origins from Wenchang county. People from Hainan settled in Cambodia from the early 18th century under Mạc Cửu, who established a trading settlement that spanned modern-day Ha Tien, Kampot province and Sihanoukville. Early Hainanese settlers started off as entrepot traders but turned to pepper trading at the end of the 18th century. They established pepper plantations in Kampot, and became the dominant Chinese sub-group in that province. Smaller Hainanese communities are also found at Sisophon and Sre Ambel. In the 1950s, many Hainanese would then move to Phnom Penh, where, in the late 1960s, they monopolized the city's entire hotel and restaurant business. Hainanese of more humbler socioeconomic backgrounds operated tailor shops and haberdasheries.