French Concession In Tianjin Characteristics And Genesis Of The Economic Structure

The French Concession was the important base where France invaded China economically in early modern times. The French Concession was also in the second place of economic power among concessions. There were several cities which were forced to sign the concession agreements with western powers. However, Tianjin was the only city where nine countries established their concessions; and the French concession existed for the longest time. Therefore, it is very important to study the economic situations of the France Concession in Tianjin for the purpose of completely evaluating the Sino-French economic relationship and French settlement policy towards China in early modern period. The thesis consists of five chapters. The introduction mainly discusses the general study of the history of concessions and basic situations of the French Concession in Tianjin. The first chapter illustrates the process of concession's shaping including settlement, enlargement and the final state. The second chapter explains the situations of taxation, financial activities and business enterprises, and analyses the features of French concession such as the prosperous finance, the developed municipal construction and the undeveloped industry. The third chapter argues the reasons of economic structure's formation in French Concession from several fields including special administrative system, French economic power, French settlement policy and French foreign policy towards China. The economic structure in the French Concession in Tianjin reflected the Sino-French economic relationship in early modern history. Through the discussion of that, the writer tries to give a comprehensive understanding of French economic aggression upon China.