Nerchinsk, Treaty Of

Treaty of Nerchinsk, (1689), peace settlement between Russia and the Manchu Chinese empire that checked Russia’s eastward expansion by removing its outposts from the Amur River basin. By the treaty’s terms Russia lost easy access to the Sea of Okhotsk and Far Eastern markets but secured its claim to Transbaikalia (the area east of Lake Baikal) and gained the right of passage to Beijing for its trade caravans. The border between the two countries was set along the Stanovoy Range and the Argun River. A success for V.V. Golitsyn’s foreign policy, the treaty prevented Russia’s potential military defeat and gained China’s implied recognition of Russia as a state of equal status, an accomplishment not achieved by other European countries. Confirmed and expanded by the Treaty of Kyakhta (1727), the Nerchinsk treaty remained the basis of Russo-Chinese relations until 1858–60.