other · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Shanghai International Settlement

1863 CE – 1943 CE · capital Shanghai

The self-governing foreign enclave at the heart of Shanghai, run by a council of foreign ratepayers, which made the city China's commercial capital.

Origins

After Shanghai was opened to foreign trade by the Treaty of Nanking, a British settlement was laid out along the Bund in 1845 and an American one at Hongkou in 1848. In 1863 the two merged as the International Settlement, while the Shanghai French Concession stayed separate.

Rule and society

The Settlement was governed by the Shanghai Municipal Council, elected by foreign property owners, with its own police and volunteer corps, while foreigners enjoyed extraterritoriality. Most residents were Chinese, but they had no seats on the council until 1928. Banks, trading houses and factories made it China's leading business centre, and the shooting of protesters by its police sparked the May Thirtieth Movement in 1925.

Decline and legacy

Japan occupied the Settlement in December 1941. In 1943 Britain and the United States renounced their rights to the Nationalist government, and Japan transferred control to the Wang Jingwei regime; after 1945 it was fully Chinese.

Lineage

Shanghai International SettlementRepublic of China 1912 CE – present

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Shanghai International Settlement. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shanghai-international-settlement
MLA
“Shanghai International Settlement.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shanghai-international-settlement. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Shanghai International Settlement.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shanghai-international-settlement.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Shanghai International Settlement’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shanghai-international-settlement (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻