Aigun Treaty of 1858

between Russia and China, signed May 16 (28) in the city of Aigun. Governor-general N. N. Murav’iev represented the Russian state, and I. Chang, the commander in chief of Heilungchiang, represented the Tai Ch’ing state.

The Aigun Treaty, as its preamble stated, was concluded “by common agreement, to achieve greater eternal mutual friendship between the two states, for the benefit of their subjects.” The Aigun Treaty juridically established Russia’s possession of the left bank of the Amur River from the Argun’ River to the mouth of the Amur; it confirmed China’s possession of the right bank of the Amur River up to the Ussuri. The region between the Ussuri and the sea “until the determination of the border between the two states in these places” was declared the common possession of Russia and China. Navigation along the Amur, Sungari, and Ussuri would be permitted only to Russian and Chinese vessels. Mutual trade was permitted among the Russian and Chinese population residing along these rivers; the parties pledged to protect “the trading people” of both states. The Aigun Treaty was confirmed by an edict of the Chinese Emperor on June 2, 1858, and ratified by Russia on June 8, 1858. The border between Russia and China in the Far East was finally determined by the Peking Treaty of 1860, which confirmed the Aigun and Tientsin treaties and also established border passage on the Ussuri River. The Aigun Treaty, together with the Tientsin Treaty (1858) and Peking Treaty (1860), juridically consolidated the border between the two states.