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Kiau Chau, a former German trading enclave, including the port of Tsingtao, was located on the Shantung Peninsula of eastern China.

Following the murder of two missionaries in Shantung in 1897, Germany occupied Kiaochow Bay, and during subsequent negotiation with Chinese government obtained a 99 year lease on the 177 square miles of land.

The enclave was established as a free port in 1899, and a customs house set up to collect tariffs on goods moving to and from the Chinese interior.

The Japanese occupied the port in 1914 and retained possession until 1922, when it was retored to China. It fell again to Japan in 1938, and restored back to China after WWII. For a more detailed country profile, see CIA World Factbook on China.