Editing Treaty of Nanking (section)

===Foreign trade===
The fundamental purpose of the treaty was to change the framework of foreign trade imposed by the [[Canton System]], which had been in force since 1760. Under Article V, the treaty abolished the former monopoly of the ''[[Cohong]]'' and their [[Thirteen Factories]] in Canton. Four additional "[[treaty ports]]" opened for foreign trade alongside Canton ([[Shamian Island|Shameen Island]] from 1859 until 1943): [[Xiamen]] (or Amoy; until 1930), [[Fuzhou]], [[Ningbo]] and [[Shanghai]] (until 1943),<ref>John Darwin, ''After Tamerlane: The Global History of Empire'', p. 271. (London: Allen Lane, 2007) "Under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, five 'treaty ports' were opened to Western trade, Hong Kong island was ceded to the British, the Europeans were allowed to station consuls in the open ports, and the old Canton system was replaced by the freedom to trade and the promise that no more than 5 per cent duty would be charged on foreign imports."</ref><ref>John Darwin, ''After Tamerlane: The Global History of Empire'', p. 431. (London: Allen Lane, 2007) "In 1943 the remnants of China's unequal treaties were at last swept away when the British abandoned their surviving privileges there as so much useless lumber."</ref> where foreign merchants were to be allowed to trade with anyone they wished. Britain also gained the right to send consuls to the treaty ports, which were given the right to communicate directly with local Chinese officials (Article II). The treaty stipulated that trade in the treaty ports should be subject to fixed tariffs, which were to be agreed upon between the British and the Qing governments (Article X).<ref name="treaty">[[s:Treaty of Nanking|Treaty of Nanking]]</ref>