Based on unpublished as well as published Chinese and British archival materials, this book focuses on the negotiations for the implementation of the commercial provision of the Treaty of Tientsin. Topics studies in detail include the opening of the Yangtze River to trade, problems in the river trade, revisions of the river trade regulations, and the opening of the bean trade at the northern ports to British shipping. A concluding chapter places Sino-British commercial policies within the context of Britain's overall China policy and within China's overall foreign policy.