Extraterritorial Concessions

in China in the 19th and 20th centuries, special enclaves leased to foreigners in certain large cities. The extraterritorial concessions were protected by the armed forces of the country that had leased them; the Chinese government had no jurisdiction over them, even though the Chinese made up from 95 to 97 percent of the residents. The Chinese had no right to acquire immovable property within the concession, and the concession itself was under the jurisdiction of “mixed courts,” which were dominated by the foreigners.

The USSR was the first country to take the initiative and renounce all the rights and privileges based on inequitable treaties concluded between tsarist Russia and China; it further affirmed its renunciation in the Sino-Soviet agreement of 1924. The Western powers renounced their extraterritorial rights in 1943.