colony · China, Tibet and Mongolia
Shanghai French Concession
Origins
After Shanghai was opened to foreign trade in 1843, the French consul Charles de Montigny obtained from the local Chinese authorities in 1849 a concession between the walled Chinese city and the British settlement. When the British and American settlements merged in 1863, France chose to keep its area separate.
Rule and society
The concession was run by the French consul-general with an elected municipal council, under French law and with its own police. Its tree-lined streets, such as the Avenue Joffre, became a favoured residential district. The French police tolerated and employed Green Gang bosses such as Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng, and political exiles found refuge there: the Chinese Communist Party held its first congress in the concession in 1921.
Decline and legacy
Japan occupied the rest of Shanghai in 1941 but left the Vichy-run concession in place. In 1943 Vichy France handed it to the Japanese-backed Wang Jingwei regime, and after 1945 it remained part of Chinese Shanghai.
Lineage
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- Shanghai French Concession was a colony of French Empire1849 CE – 1943 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Shanghai French Concession. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shanghai-french-concession
- MLA
- “Shanghai French Concession.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shanghai-french-concession. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Shanghai French Concession.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shanghai-french-concession.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Shanghai French Concession’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shanghai-french-concession (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻