The Shanghai International Settlement originated following the defeat of the Qing dynasty of China by the British Empire in the First Opium War (18391842) and the subsequent signature of the Treaty of Nanking. Under the terms of the treaty, the Chinese city of Shanghai, along with four other treaty ports, opened to foreign trade, overturning the former monopoly held by the southern port of Canton (Guangzhou) under the Canton System. The British, already active in Hong Kong, which had been ceded to them under the Treaty of Nanking, quickly established a settlement along the banks of the Whangpoo River for the furtherance of their commercial interests.