Treaty of Nanking

The Treaty of Nanking (南京條約) is the agreement which marked the end of the First Opium War between the United Kingdom and China.

It was signed on August 29, 1842 onboard the British warship HMS Cornwallis in Nanjing. It is the first of the Unequal Treaties signed by China with a foreign power.

Under the treaty, China agreed to cede Hong Kong Island to the British Empire, and open the following treaty ports of China for foreign trade:

• Canton (Guangzhou)
• Amoy (Xiamen)
• Foochow (Fuzhou)
• Ningpo (Ningbo)
• Shanghai

(The first of the romanizations are in Postal System Pinyin; the second Hanyu Pinyin.)

The treaty also ensured the legalization of the opium trade with China, which was profitable for the British and which many historians believe to have been devastating to the Chinese.

See also

• Opium Wars
• Treaty of Tientsin
• Convention of Peking
• Imperialism in Asia
• History of Hong Kong

External links

• Wikisource: Treaty of Nanking