Treaty Ports in 1928

TREATY PORTS IN CHINA - 1928

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Copywrite 1999 by Philip R. Abbey - Permission to use for educational purposes granted provided credit is given and copywrite holder notified by email of intended use and user. Uploaded June 1, 1999. Revised March 27, 2005.

Note that areas are approximate. The source data is expressed variously as acres, square meters, mow, tsubo, square yards and square miles. It also is not precise and variable from one reference to another. Little data is available for Belgium's concession at Tientsin except dates. Apparently development of that concession was stunted until approximately 1924. There may also have been other concessions and settlements, such as the Legation Quarter, not reported.

Dates of Establishment are somewhat open to interpretation. For example, following the Boxer Rebellion 1900 several foreign nations established concessions at Tientsin by force of arms. These claims were later changed from de facto to de jure as agreements were worked out between the nations involved. The International Settlement at Shanghai was founded as the British Concession in 1843 and then merged with the American Concession in 1863.

Termination dates are also variable. Japan took over the British concessions at Tientsin and Canton December 8, 1941 by force of arms. On January 11, 1943 Great Britain relinquished it's special treaty rights to the Nationalist Government in Chungking.

Populations are close estimates at best.

More information on treaty ports is available at http://www.oocities.org/treatyport01/TREATY01.html.

Location	Year Established	Year Terminated	Size (Acres)	Foreign Population	Chinese Population	Total Population
Shanghai International¹ French	1863 1849	1942 1946	5,584 2,504	30,565 7,811	802,000 289,261	832,565 297,072
Hankow British French² Japanese	1861 1886 1898	1929 1943-1946 1945	115 60 32	712 306 1,284	7,288 5,200 1,115	8,000 5,506 2,399
Tientsin Belgian British³ French² Italian⁴ Japanese	1900 1861 1861 1902 1895	1929 1941-1943 1943-1946 1943-1945 1945	217 1,012 434 108 391	* 2,045 1,500 407 5,104	* 33,172 36,000 7,000 21,347	* 35,217 5,100 7,470 26,451
Canton British³ French²	1859 1859	1941-1943 1943-1946	62 12	427 150	803 260	1,230 410
Kuikiang British	1861	1929	640	*	*	*
Amoy Kulangsu	1842	1945	960	240	27,500	27,740
Chinkiang British	1861	1930	160	30	1,200	1,230
Newchang Japanese	1900	1945	1.2	2,316	2,019	4,335

¹The International Settlement was formed by merger of the British Concession, established in 1844, and the American Settlement formally established in 1863 but informally established in 1854.
²The French concessions were relinquished to the Japanese sponsored Chinese National Government by Vichy France in 1943. This action was not recognized by the Free French Government-in-Exile or by the Republic of China. In 1946 the French relinquished their claims in exchange for China evacuating Tokin in French Indo-China.
³Japanese forces seized the British concessions December 8, 1941. This action was not recognized by either Great Britain or the Republic of China. On January 11, 1943 Great Britain relinquished its concessions and extraterritoriality.
⁴Italy cooperated with Japan in instituting Japan's new economic policies in North China. In 1943 Italy relinquished it concession at Tientsin to the Japanese sponsored Chinese National Government. Following the end of World War II the Italian Government relinquished extraterritoriality, the Tientsin concession and its residual rights in the international settlements at Shanghai and Amoy (Xiamen).

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Selected Bibliography

China Yearbook 1928. H. G. W. Woodhead, editor. Tientsin: Tientsin Press. 1929.

Created by Phil Abbey and uploaded April 10, 1999. Revised March 27, 2005. Comments to pr_abbey@hotmail.com.