to China was signed in August 1929 and approved by the Belgian parliament in 1931. Much more important were contracts involving railways, electric power systems and tramways built and partly operated by Belgian private companies. In 1904, China and Belgium signed a contract with the Compagnie de tramways et d'éclairage de Tientsin, giving the company an official monopoly for 50 years over trams and electric lighting in the city. In 1906, with the opening of the first route of the tramway system, Tianjin became the first Chinese city to have a modern public transportation system (Shanghai had to wait until 1908 to get electric tramways). The supply of electricity and lighting and the trolley business were profitable ventures. By 1914, the network covered the Chinese city as well as the Austrian, French, Italian, Japanese and Russian concessions. The Compagnie de tramways et d'éclairage de Tientsin was taken over by the Japanese army in 1943 and the members of the Belgian staff, often with their families, were sent to internment camps. Following the end of World War II, the Chinese authorities took over the network. The Brussels-based company tried to get compensation, but the Chinese Revolution in 1949 left them without any indemnity. Two more lines were built under Chinese administration, but the network was finally closed around 1972. British concession (1860–1943) The British concession, which contained the trade and financial centres, was situated on the right bank of the river Haihe below the native city, occupying some . It was held on a lease in perpetuity granted by the Chinese government to the British Crown, which sublet plots to private owners in the same way as was done at Hankou. The local management was entrusted to a municipal council organized on lines similar to those in Shanghai. The seat of government was the stately Gordon Hall, situated on the financial street called Victoria Road (now Jiefang Lu). The British concession was blockaded by the Japanese during the Tientsin incident in June 1939, causing a major diplomatic crisis. The Japanese occupied the British concession upon their declaration of war against Britain on 7 December 1941 until the end of the war. The British concession in Tianjin was formally returned to China with the Sino-British Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China, ratified on 20 May 1943, although the Chinese could not take possession until the end of the war