Battles & Campaigns · 1860
Convention of Peking
Beijing, China
What happened
Prince Gong for the Qing dynasty signed separate agreements with Lord Elgin of Britain, Baron Gros of France, and Nikolay Ignatyev of Russia. The Second Opium War ended with British and French troops in Beijing. In a government building just south of the Forbidden City, China confirmed the earlier Treaty of Tientsin and gave Britain part of the Kowloon Peninsula.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It ended the Second Opium War. The agreements are counted among the 'unequal treaties' that took land from China.
What came next
Kowloon became part of British Hong Kong. Britain handed Hong Kong, including Kowloon, back to China on 1 July 1997.
Did you know?
Anglo-French forces occupied the Forbidden City until the war ended.
Timeline
- 1858Treaty of Tientsin.
- 24 October 1860Anglo-Chinese convention is signed.
- 1 July 1997Hong Kong returns to China.