The
Shanghai International Settlement originated following the defeat of the
Qing dynasty of China by the
British Empire in the
First Opium War (18391842) and the subsequent signature of the
Treaty of Nanking. Under the terms of the treaty, the Chinese city of
Shanghai, along with four other
treaty ports, opened to foreign trade, overturning the former monopoly held by the southern port of Canton (
Guangzhou) under the
Canton System. The British, already active in
Hong Kong, which had been ceded to them under the Treaty of Nanking, quickly established a settlement along the banks of the
Whangpoo River for the furtherance of their commercial interests.