Despite not sending in troops to fight during the Boxer Rebellion, Belgium was able to claim the parcel of land east of the Hai River in negotiations under consul Maurice Joostens, even though Russia had claimed the land previously.

After claiming that Belgium would build factories in the area, Russia relented.

[1] On February 6, 1902, Zhang Lianfen of the Qing government signed the Tianjin Belgian Concession Contract with Henri Ketels, acting consul of Belgium in Tianjin.

[1] With an impending financial crisis looming over the concession, the Belgian consul to China announced it would give back the concession to China as a gesture of friendship.

On August 31, 1929, China and Belgium signed a charter for the return of the Tianjin-Belgium Concession, stipulating that the administrative power of the concession and all the public properties of the concession should be transferred to the Chinese government; on the other hand, the 93,000 taels in debt (with interest) shall be repaid by the Chinese government.