This German colonial issue originates from the Offices in China, where German stamps were used with overprints to indicate validity in the concession territories. The base stamp, a 20 Pfennig blue, features the Imperial German eagle and the inscription "Reichspost". It bears a bold diagonal overprint “China”, applied in black, which was introduced in 1898 to distinguish colonial usage from domestic German stamps. Such issues were used by German residents and businesses in China during the late 19th and early 20th century. For collectors, these overprints hold special significance, linking German philately with international postal history and colonial expansion.