Nerchinsk, Treaty of

(1689) Peace settlement between Russia and Qing-dynasty China that checked Russia's eastward expansion.

Russia lost easy access to the Sea of Okhotsk but gained the right of passage to Beijing for its trade caravans. The treaty also gained China's implied recognition of Russia as a state of equal status, something other European countries could not accomplish. The Nerchinsk treaty was the basis of Russo-Chinese relations until 1858–60.

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▪ China-Russia [1689]

      (1689), peace settlement between Russia and the Manchu Chinese empire that checked Russia's eastward expansion by removing its outposts from the Amur River basin. By the treaty's terms Russia lost easy access to the Sea of Okhotsk and Far Eastern markets but secured its claim to Transbaikalia (the area east of Lake Baikal) and gained the right of passage to Beijing for its trade caravans. The border between the two countries was set along the Stanovoy Range and the Argun River. A success for V.V. Golitsyn (Golitsyn, Vasily Vasilyevich, Knyaz)'s foreign policy, the treaty prevented Russia's potential military defeat and gained China's implied recognition of Russia as a state of equal status, an accomplishment not achieved by other European countries. Confirmed and expanded by the Treaty of Kyakhta (1727), the Nerchinsk treaty remained the basis of Russo-Chinese relations until 1858–60.

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