Battles & Campaigns · 1858
Treaty of Aigun
Aigun (Aihui), Heilongjiang, China
What happened
Russian governor-general Nikolay Muraviev and Qing official Yishan signed the treaty. Russia wanted land along the Amur River in the far east. At the town of Aigun, the two officials agreed that the Amur would be the border, and over 600,000 square kilometres north of it passed to Russia. The Amur, Sungari and Ussuri rivers were opened to ships of both countries.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It set much of the modern border between Russia and China. It reversed the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk.
What came next
The Qing court at first refused to accept it. The 1860 Convention of Peking confirmed it and gave Russia more land near the Pacific coast.
Did you know?
Aihui lies on the Amur River opposite the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk.
Timeline
- 1689Treaty of Nerchinsk.
- 28 May 1858Treaty of Aigun is signed.
- 1860Convention of Peking confirms it.