In 1854, the foreign emigrants in British Settlement of Shanghai elected 7 people to form the Municipal Council to replace the former Committee on Roads and Jetties as the management authority of the settlement up to 1943 when foreign settlements system ended. It is the first minutes of the Council and the time for the meeting was July 17, 1854. After that, it became a system to hold a re-election for the Council annually and the Municipal Council became the highest decision-making authority. From 1854 to the end of Shanghai Municipal Council in 1943, the Municipal Council existed for nearly 90 years and its meeting minutes were preserved in completion. These minutes detailed the establishment of taxation, police, municipal construction, environment and public health organizations and the major decision-making process of appointments, expenditure and financial budget and settlement issues.