‘We are nearer the East than the other states’: Frederic Jones of Queensland, the first official from Australia in Shanghai

Abstract Frederic Jones became the Queensland Commercial Agent in the Far East in 1904. He worked assiduously to extend Queensland’s trade with Asia, often pursuing a vigorously competitive approach in his dealings with the other states. Based in Shanghai from 1906, he became the first official from Australia to serve in China. He persuaded the Commonwealth government to authorise him to provide visiting Chinese merchants and travellers with documentation that would allow them to enter without undergoing the dictation test. Foreseeing the potential for trade complementarity between Queensland and China, after his appointment concluded in December 1907 he remained in business in Shanghai.