Europe and China Energy: A Light-Hearted Energy Relationship

Early 20th century Shanghai could easily have been mistaken for a glamorous European metropolis. A European fin-de-siecle atmosphere permeated the city, like the thick smoky haze of opium. Haussmannization hit Shanghai fast, when victory in the first Opium War won occupation rights for the French and the British at the largest trade hub of the Far East. While the Chinese bourgeoisie enjoyed the wonders and conveniences of modernity, the rest of colonized Shanghai suffered deep humiliation, segregation, and racism. Its European architecture still stands today as a tourist attraction among the neon lights of the buzzing modern commercial city, like monuments of shared history. It was in one of these buildings that Royal Dutch Shell set up its very first business office more than a century ago, exporting kerosene to Shanghai and replacing its rickshaws with trams and automobiles.
Today, European oil companies have established themselves as the most active participants in China