Foreign concessions in Tianjin

The foreign concessions in Tianjin (formerly romanized as Tientsin) were concession territories ceded by Qing China to a number of European countries, the United States and Japan within the city of Tianjin. There were altogether nine foreign concessions in old Tianjin on the eve of World War II. These concessions also contributed to the rapid development of Tianjin from the early to mid-20th century. The first foreign concessions in Tianjin were granted in 1860. By 1943, all the foreign concessions, except the Japanese concession, had ceased to exist de facto. Prior to the 19th century, the Chinese were concerned that European trade and missionary activity would upset the order of the empire. Strictly controlled and subject to import tariffs, European traders were limited to operating in Canton and Macao. Following a series of military defeats against Britain and France, Qing China were slowly forced to permit extraterritorial privileges for foreign nationals and even cessions of Chinese sovereignty over certain ports and mineral rights. Tianjin's position at the intersection of the Grand Canal and the Peiho River connecting Beijing to the Bohai Bay made it one of the premier ports of northern China. Foreign trade was approved there for the British and French by the 1860 Peking Convention. Its importance increased even further when it was connected to the Tangshan coal fields by the Kaiping Tramway, the railroad that eventually connected all of northern China and Manchuria. Between 1895 and 1900, the two original powers were joined by Japan, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Belgium countries without concessions elsewhere in China in establishing self-contained concessions each with their own prisons, schools, barracks and hospitals. The European settlements covered in all, the riverfront being governed by foreign powers. After decades, the Japanese, French, and British concessions (which were situated on the right bank of the Peiho River) became the most prosperous ones.