Final answer:
Traders from the central Asian steppes exchanged their goods for valuable Chinese manufactured items such as silk, porcelain, and spices. The Europeans later entered the trade scenario, bringing their goods, including silver and firearms, with opium eventually becoming a controversial trade item to solve the trade imbalance with China.
Step-by-step explanation:
Throughout the rich history of trade on the Silk Roads, the focus was on exchanging various goods and commodities across extensive distances. When traders from the central Asian steppes brought hides, wool, and livestock to China, they sought out Chinese manufactured goods such as lacquerware, silk, floss, paper, porcelain, and iron tools. These luxurious items captured the interest of Europeans, who later brought valuable metals and sought to trade their own goods, like cotton fabrics and silverware, even considering opium to balance the trade scales with the robust Chinese economy, which was mostly self-sufficient and in less need of foreign products.
The traders that took their furs to China were primarily interested in exchanging them for valuable and exotic Chinese products. Over the centuries, different empires and regions sought to control the lucrative trade routes and gain access to Chinese goods. European powers especially desired products like silk, porcelain, and spices, but also brought items to trade such as firearms, metal tools, and eventually opium in their attempt to penetrate the Chinese market.