ABSTRACT
From the middle of the 18th to the middle of the 19th centuries, relations between Russia and China continued to develop, border trade assuming the new forms defined by the Russo-Chinese treaty of Kyakhta at the beginning of this period. In the middle of the 18th century the tsarist autocracy considerably reinforced the economic and political position of the governing landowning nobility. The nobility's growing influence was also felt on Russian foreign trade policy. Commercial relations between the towns of West China and nearby Russian settlements go back to the end of the 18th century. The Sino-Russian Kyakhta trade became an important consideration in the Russian budget. In the period 1770-1790 the range of goods exchanged at Kyakhta began to show a marked difference from that exchanged in the former Sino-Russian caravan trade. At the beginning of the 19th century the Russian government took a number of steps to consolidate Sino-Russian trade at Kyakhta.
