If the British forces broke the hegemony of Indian empires through trade and commerce and expanded it under the so-called 'British Raj', they did something on similar grounds in China, known as the Opium Wars. The two sets of wars that forced the Chinese to accept British terms and conditions in the 19th century led to the opening of numerous 'treaty ports' all across the coast of China, and some inland towns as well. Known as 'Concession Ports' or 'Treaty Ports', the Chinese cities were now divided among various European powers all for the sake of trade and commerce. Countries such as Italy and Belgium that had their colonies only in Africa, had now opened themselves to the Chinese waters.
The First Opium War fought between 1839 to 1842 led to the signing of the Treaty of Nanking that ceded Hong Kong to Britain and opened five more ports to foreign trade - Canton (Guangzhou), Amoy (Xiamen), Foochow (Fuzhow), Ningpo (Ningbo) and Shanghai. Another treaty was signed after the end of the Second Opium War, (fought between 1856 to 1860) known as the Treaty of Tientsin (Tianjin) that further enhanced the European trade routes to China, particularly the port of Tientsin that saw foreign posts of eight nations including the United States.
The Treaty Port system ended in 1943 with the British signing the Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China, although some ports retained foreign presence post-1943 as well. Port Arthur (or Dairen / Lüshun; today's Dalian) had a Russian presence between 1898 to 1905 and post-World War 2, the Soviet Union held it till 1955. Port Arthur was also one of the only two ports that had an Italian presence between 1901 to 1947; the other port being Tientsin (Tianjin). Although the British had their stronghold in acquiring Treaty Ports, followed by the French and the Japanese, the Empire of Austria-Hungary also had a small amount of share in Tientsin between 1902 to 1917.
Another important town was Hankow (Hankou), a predecessor to today's Wuhan city, that had five foreign presence - the French (1896 - 1946), the Germans (1895 - 1917), the Japanese (1898 - 1943), the Russians (1896 - 1924) and the British (1861 - 1927). The Germans also had their ports elsewhere such as the Kiautschou Bay (Qingdao; 1898 - 1946) and Tientsin (1895 - 1917). The reason why Tientsin opened to almost every foreign trade route, was because of the series of treaties signed here which led to also opening of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) for foreign navigation.
This systematic colonisation took its worse shape in India when after the 1757 Battle of Plassey and the 1764 Battle of Buxar, the English East India Company spread like a wildfire, annexing almost half of the Indian subcontinent under the 'British Raj'. If the same way wasn't feasible to the Chinese imperial powers, this subtle process of looting wherein almost every European imperialist was involved, crushed the Chinese economy, the result of which led to the rise of Chinese nationalism in the 1920s and the 1930s. It is recorded that by 1917, this treaty system had opened 92 ports to foreign trade and residence, ceded Hong Kong and Taiwan to Britain and Japan respectively and established long-term leaseholds over territories such as Port Arthur and Weihaiwei (Weihai; British presence between 1898 to 1930).
Often parallels are drawn between how the Europeans monopolised Chinese and Indian empires under the pretext of trade and commerce, the only difference being the Chinese didn't ally with any foreign power and had to face innumerable wars and battles, while the already disintegrated Indian kingdoms in the 18th and 19th centuries opened their boundaries to foreigners, particularly the British. Another parallel pattern was the misuse of the treaty terms and conditions by Europeans by using violent measures between 1860 to 1890 - both in India and China. The result was the constant defeat of both Indian and Chinese powers at the hands of foreigners and exposing the two millennia-old civilisations to centuries of humiliation and exploitation. Even countries like Italy and Belgium that only had their presence in African countries, had their trade posts in ports such as Tientsin and Kwang-Chou-Wan (Zhanjiang). Concluding, parallels can again be made when in the 1920s and the 1930s, rising nationalism in China and India rung an alarming bell to the foreigners and within the next decade both the countries were almost free from any colonial possessions. One noteworthy observation to be made here is the arrival and departure of the Portuguese to Indian and Chinese ports, which started in the 16th century and ended in the 20th century, making it the earliest European to arrive and the last to leave both the nations.
Although centuries of European colonisation had marred both India and China, the post-colonial era saw the rapid development of these nations under their independent ruling powers, thus competing at par with the same colonisers under whom they had endured centuries of exploitation. Here is a map of all the Treaty Ports of China that was under various foreign occupation.
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