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China: Signing of the Treaty of Nanjing on the 29th of August 1842 to mark the end of the First Opium War (1839–42). John Platt, 1846

China: Signing of the Treaty of Nanjing on the 29th of August 1842 to mark the end of the First Opium War (1839–42). John Platt, 1846

The Treaty of Nanjing, also called the 'Treaty of Nanking', was signed on the 29th of August 1842 to mark the end of the First Opium War (1839–42) between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Qing Dynasty of China. It was the first of what the Chinese called the unequal treaties because Britain had no obligations in return.

In the wake of China's military defeat, with British warships poised to attack the city, representatives from the British and Qing Empires negotiated aboard HMS Cornwallis anchored at Nanjing. On 29 August 1842, British representative Sir Henry Pottinger and Qing representatives, Qiying, Yilibu, and Niujian, signed the treaty. It consisted of thirteen articles and ratification by Queen Victoria and the Daoguang Emperor was exchanged nine months later.

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