On Sino-US Commercial Treaty Relations In Late Qing Dynasty

China dominates East Asia while the United States spans America.The "adventurous pursuit of trade" prompted the United States to embark on a long journey to China at the beginning of its founding.In the 60 years before the Opium War,although Sino-US trade developed steadily,it also contained many contradictions and conflicts.With the continuous escalation of the Sino-British trade conflict in the 1830s and the increasing calls for business in the United Kingdom to sign a treaty,the United States also began to seek opportunities to sign a treaty with China.Commercial treaties are the legal basis for regulating international trade under the modern national order.Because it is closely related to national sovereignty and economic interests,it is regarded as the most important one in the treaty.In the late Qing Dynasty,China's national power declined and was bullied by Western countries.Not only was it forced to sign political treaties concerning ceding land and indemnities,but it also signed a large number of trade treaties that infringed upon the survival of the country and the livelihood of the people.The United States has always occupied an important historical position among Western countries that have signed trade agreements with the Qing government.It is the second country after the United Kingdom to establish a treaty relationship with China.The Treaty of Wang-hea signed in 1844 has become a model for countries to imitate because of its meticulousness and rigorousness.After the Opium War,although there is a law to follow in Sino-U.S.trade due to the establishment of commercial agreements,its contradictions and conflicts were not completely resolved.The inequality of the commercial agreement itself,the ambition of the United States to expand commercial power,and the indifferent concept of the Qing government's treaty made it difficult to implement the commercial agreement effectively,and new contradictions and conflicts surfaced again.Relying on the provisions of the "twelve-year treaty revision",the United States took the lead in opening the curtain on revising the treaty.In the end,under the cover of "neutrality" and "mediation," the United States successfully signed The Tientsin Treaty and its trade regulations,designing a "thoughtful and comprehensive" system for its trade with China.For the seizure of sufficient trade privileges and the influence of the North-South war,the United States advocated a "cooperative policy" basically taking shape,and the Sino-US trade relationship entered a short period of harmony.In the subsequent contract negotiations,the United States,from the perspective of maintaining the friendly relations between China and the United States,concluded the Burlingame Treaty with a little restraint and showing friendliness to China.In spite of this,the Burlingame Treaty still obtains "the protection of the Chinese government and the right to live and trade in China" for American businessmen in China.After the signing of the Burlingame Treaty,the implementation was facing new problems.Especially in the mid-1970 s,the US's growing anti-Chinese trend plunged the more harmonious diplomatic and trade relations between China and the US into a deep crisis.In order to solve the problem of Chinese workers and protect trade in China,the United States once again asked for an amendment to the contract.On the condition of resolving the Chinese labor problem,the U.S.has agreed to China's demand of commercial trade such as banning opium,and the Sino-US trade relations were slightly adjusted due to the signing of the Supplementary Treaty in 1880.Since then,with the rapid development of the domestic industrial economy in the United States and the initial formation of monopoly organizations,the United States has significantly increased its demand for the export of Chinese goods and capital,and the trade conflicts and contradictions between China and the United States have become more prominent.At the same time,the intensification of the Japanese and Russian invasions of China has made the United States feel its interests in China been seriously threatened.Taking advantage of the negotiations on commercial trade in late Qing dynasty,the United States and the Qing government signed the Commercial Navigation Treaty in1903.The agreement not only expanded the US business rights in China and created conditions for its capital export,but also demonstrated the US's "open door" policy and its determination to compete with other countries.So far,the position of the United States in Sino-foreign business treaty relations has become more and more important.Throughout the development and evolution of Sino-US commercial treaty relations in the late Qing Dynasty,the process of its conclusion was full of power politics,but the United States put on a veil of friendliness to China.The content of its treaty emphasizes the most-favored-nation treatment,while it has also claimed many new trade rights and interests that are different from other countries.There exists a process of fine-tuning from a single party to both parties in the contracting,but it is not enough to change the nature of inequality in commercial contracts.Moreover,with the changes of the Sino-US relationship and the power between two parties,the political color in the agreement has become increasingly strong,which to a certain extent reflects the strong enterprising spirit of the United States in trade with China and China's intention to control foreigners by uniting the United States.All in all,the Sino-US commercial treaty relations in the late Qing Dynasty showed its own unique development trend,the inequality was the root,which played as an important factor to result in a deeply fettered development of modern China in society and economy.But at the same time,during the construction and development of the Sino-US commercial treaty relationship in the late Qing Dynasty,there were some sporadic fragments of negotiation,cooperation,and compromise.In today's situation where frictions and disputes in Sino-US economic and trade relations are escalating and the stability of Sino-US relations is facing serious challenges,it provides reference and thinking for the stable development of China-US economic and trade relations and is undoubtedly of important academic and practical significance tosort out the Sino-US business treaty relations in the late Qing Dynasty systematically,to clarify the conflicts and contradictions in its development and evolution,to analyze the nature,status and influence of Sino-U.S.commercial treaties and to sum up its experience and lessons.