History

Shanghai was an unimportant trading center from Ming times (1368–1644) until the mid-19th century. By the Treaty of Nanking (1842), which ended the Opium War between China and Great Britain, Shanghai was made a treaty port, opening the city to foreign trade. In 1843 a section of Shanghai was leased in perpetuity to the British for commercial and residential purposes. Later, similar “concessions,” as the special leases were called, were granted to France and the United States.

In 1863 the British and American concessions were joined to form the International Settlement. Under the foreign concessions, which were enlarged several times, Shanghai developed rapidly, becoming the financial and commercial center of the Far East.

In 1932 the old town district was attacked and partially destroyed by Japanese troops. Intimidated, the Chinese ended the trade boycott against Japan that they had begun after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Japan invaded China in 1937, and Shanghai was under Japanese occupation until 1945. Britain and the United States relinquished their concessions in 1943 and France in 1946.

Shanghai was taken by the Chinese Communists in 1949 and they seized the extensive foreign holdings in the city, forcing most foreigners to leave. Following the Chinese government's introduction of economic reforms in the late 1980's and early 1990's, Shanghai became an important international trade and finance center.

Population: Shanghai proper, 12,887,000; the municipality, 16,407,734.