Peking Russo-Chinese Treaty of 1860

a treaty signed on Nov. 2 (14), 1860, by the Russian envoy to China, N. P. Ignat’ev, and the Chinese prince Kung.

The Peking treaty reaffirmed and supplemented the Treaty of Aigun of 1858 (art. 1) and the Russo-Chinese Treaty of Tientsin of 1858 (art. 9). It defined the eastern borders (art. 1) and largely delineated the western borders (art. 2) between Russia and China. According to the demarcation of the territories along the Ussuri River, the right bank of the river was acknowledged as a Russian possession, and the left bank as a Chinese possession. (A line indicating the border along the Amur and Ussuri rivers was drawn on a map appended to the treaty.) Further along, a border was established along the Sungari River (Sunghua Chiang), Lake Khanka, and the Belenkhe River and along the Tumen River to the Korean border. The western border was to pass along clearly distinguishable natural reference points and the “present Chinese picket lines” (art. 2). Article 3 provided for the appointment of special commissioners to draw the demarcation lines for the eastern and western sections of the Russo-Chinese border.

The treaty provided detailed regulations for Russo-Chinese trade relations (art. 7). It was established that “Russian merchants in China and Chinese merchants in Russia are under the special protection of both governments” (art. 8). Both sides agreed to exchange consuls. The Russian government was permitted to establish its own consulates in Urga (now Ulan Bator) and Kashgar. Articles 9–15 regulated the system of consular jurisdiction and of extraterritoriality for Russian merchants in China, as well as the rules for face-to-face and written communications between the Russian and Chinese border authorities and other related matters. A protocol regarding the exchange of maps and the lines of demarcation in Ussuri Krai was added to the treaty on June 16, 1861; this protocol had the force of an original article.