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By 1938, 57% of all Vietnam's imports were provided by French companies. Vietnam also provided a good market for French manufactured goods. Vietnam had good supplies of coal, tin, zinc and rubber. Vietnam became profitable for the French. By 1893, the neighbouring states of Laos and Cambodia had also been added to the French Empire. The war continued until 1885, when China finally accepted her inability to defeat the French Army and signed an agreement recognising French control over Vietnam. This did not stop the fighting as China, concerned about the presence of French troops on its border, sent soldiers into Vietnam. It was a long drawn out struggle but in 1868, the Vietnam Emperor surrendered and signed a peace treaty with France. Nothing was done about it at first but in 1858, Napoleon III sent 14 ships and 2,500 men to the Vietnamese port of Danang. News soon got back to France that Vietnam would make a good addition to the French Empire.

In 1847, French troops were sent to Vietnam to protect the Catholic community. Hostility towards the Christian missionaries grew and over the years there were several cases of priests being murdered. The missionaries also instructed their followers to give their loyalty to God rather than to their Emperor. The converted Catholics were told to abandon their religious customs including that of taking several wives. However, the Vietnamese authorities became concerned when the missionaries began to recruit the local people to Roman Catholicism. The Catholic priests received a friendly welcome from the Vietnamese people and they were allowed to live and work in the country. In the 17th Century, French missionaries arrived in Vietnam. The language, religion, architecture, system of government and most other aspects of Vietnamese life, reflected the influence of the Chinese. The long period of Chinese rule had left its mark on Vietnam.

For the next thousand years Vietnam struggled to gain its independence from its much larger neighbour. In 111 BC, Vietnam became part of the Chinese Empire. Vietnam is a small country to the south of China ('Vietnamese' means "non-Chinese people of the south").