Treaty of Nanking

China agreed to open Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai to British merchants and consuls, cede Hong Kong Island, abolish the Cohong merchant monopoly, pay an indemnity of 21 million silver dollars and apply fair, published tariffs. A supplementary treaty in 1843 fixed duties at about 5 percent and granted Britain most-favored-nation treatment and extraterritoriality. These unequal treaty terms were ended in the twentieth century and impose no current obligations.

The treaty is the origin of Hong Kong and Shanghai as global trade hubs, a geography that still shapes cross-border e-commerce flows. Hong Kong became a free port and later one of the busiest air cargo hubs for goods from South China factories, while Shanghai grew into the world's busiest container port. For fulfillment operators, this history explains why so much China-origin inventory still moves through these two gateways and why Hong Kong remains a separate customs territory from mainland China.

• Canton System1757–1842 · Qing China limits Western trade to Guangzhou
• English East India Company1600–1874 · A chartered company trades with Asia, then rules India
• Shanghai Becomes World's Busiest Container Port2010 · Shanghai passes Singapore with 29 million TEU

• Repeal of the Corn Laws1846 · 1846 UK repeal of grain tariffs that began free trade
• Cobden-Chevalier Treaty1860 · 1860 Anglo-French treaty that cut tariffs and spread MFN

1. Office of the Historian: The Opening to China Part I, the First Opium War and the Treaty of Wangxia history.state.gov
2. Britannica: Treaty of Nanjing britannica.com