The Russian Commercial Fleet in the Treaty Ports of China in the Second Half of the 19th Century

Abstract

The article offers a comprehensive analysis of the activity of the Russian merchant fleet in China in the second half of the 19th century. This historical issue is particularly relevant in connection with the active development of modern foreign trade in China and the strengthening of Russian-Chinese trade and economic ties. The historical research is based on the materials of the central archives of Russian Federation (including the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire and the Russian State Historical Archive). The methodology is based on a comparative analysis of Russian shipping in China and similar activities of other foreigners, and a system analysis that allows us to study the issue in the context of the overall development of Russian-Chinese trade. An important component of the article is the statistical analysis of data on the development of maritime Russian-Chinese trade, foreign shipping in China, and freight rates. The article considers the development of the organization of maritime Russian-Chinese trade in Odessa and the Far East directions. On the example of several treaty ports (Hankou, Shanghai, and Chifu), the features of the development of Russian commercial navigation in Chinese waters and the accompanying complexities of this process are shown. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion that there is a direct correlation between the level of infrastructure development in the Russian Far East and the expansion of the presence of the Russian merchant fleet in the treaty ports of China at the end of the 19th century.