Brief History of HongKong

Human activity in Hong Kong dates back over five millennia. The Han Chinese first settled the territory in
the seventh century, A.D., and the first major migration from northern China to Hong Kong occurred
during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279). In 1699, the British East India Company made the first successful
sea venture to China, which caused Hong Kong's trade with British merchants to rapidly develop. After the
British defeated the Chinese in the First Opium War (1839-42), Hong Kong was ceded to Britain in 1842
under the Treaty of Nanking. The 1860 Convention of Beijing granted Britain a perpetual lease on the
Kowloon Peninsula and formally ended hostilities in the Second Opium War (1856-58). Due to its concern
that Hong Kong could not be defended unless the surrounding areas were also under British control, the
United Kingdom executed a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898, significantly expanding the size
of the Hong Kong colony.

At the turn of the century, Hong Kong served as a warehousing and distribution center for U.K. trade with
southern China. In 1949, after the end of World War II, the Communist takeover of mainland China caused
hundreds of thousands of people to flee from China to Hong Kong. Hong Kong became an economic
success and a center for manufacturing, commercial, finance, and tourism. The city’s high life expectancy,
literacy rate, per capita income, and other socioeconomic measures attest to Hong Kong’s achievements
over the last five decades.