Treaty of Saigon
The new treaty replaced the notoriously vague 'Philastre treaty' of 15 March 1874 (the Treaty of Saigon), which had given France limited commercial privileges in Tonkin. It restated, though in milder language, many of the provisions included in the punitive Harmand Treaty of August 1883, which had never been ratified by the French parliament. It entrenched the French protectorate over both Annam and Tonkin and allowed the French to station residents in most Vietnamese towns. It also granted certain trade privileges to France.