List of foreign territories in China

The concessions were enclaves located in Chinese cities that were leased to, governed, and occupied foreign powers. In these concessions, foreigners were given the right to freely inhabit, trade, travel, and perform missionary evangelization. Some of these territories were directly leased by foreign powers, effectively removing them from the control of local governments and serving as de facto colonies.^[1] A 1937 inventory of all the concessions along with a survey of their status done by W. C. Johnstone shows that, aside from the two international settlements at Shanghai and Xiamen, there were a total of 23 foreign concessions to 8 nations in 10 Chinese cities. In addition to the 23 formally established concessions, Britain, Japan, and the United States were granted rights to concessions in several additional treaty ports, but these rights were never exercised.^[2]

In addition, territories were fully administered as colonies and had their soverignity transferred to a foreign power in perpetuity. These include Portuguese Macau, and the areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon in British Hong Kong.