ABSTRACT
Chinese diplomatic relations with other countries overland began before maritime foreign relations. Since the spread of the Chinese race has been from north to south, relations with the regions that are now Russian Central Asia and Siberia can be traced back for many centuries. During the reign of Shun-chih of the Ching Dynasty, another Russian mission under Theodore Isakovich Baikov arrived at Peking in 1656 with a small caravan of government goods, after being well-nigh two years on the journey. In the early part of the seventeenth century, Russian influence gradually spread to the Amur. The Chinese delegation was supported by an army of ten thousand men with a fleet of boats and cannon. The Chinese delegates demanded that the frontier be placed at Nerchinsk.
