Sultan Ageng appointed a Chinese man named Kaytsu as the minister of foreign trade, who was also the "syahbandar" (port master) of Banten. Acquiring the sultan's confidence, he was a man of exceptional talent and vision to boost the Banten economy by creating Banten's own fleet of trading ships. Previously, Banten just took the role as trading port, while the active commerce role was played by entrepreneur merchants and trading companies. Having English traders as consultants, the syahbandar built ships and recruited crew, both locals and of foreign origin, to create a trading fleet modelled after the European model. The new European ships were ordered from an English-owned shipwright in Rembang near the teak wood producing area in northern Java, while some secondhand ships were acquired from Moorish, Japanese and European traders. By the 1660s Banten was able to compete with European companies for trade in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. In 1666 Banten junks sailed for Tonkin, reestablishing the ancient trade link with mainland China. Banten was able to trade directly with Mecca, Gujarat, the Coromandel coast, Bengal, Siam, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Taiwan and Japan, and also set up factories in Surat and even London.