Sino-British Joint Declaration

The 1984 treaty in which China and the United Kingdom agreed that China would resume sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, under specified policies and guarantees.

Hong Kong Basic Law: Hong Kong’s constitutional document, adopted in 1990 and effective from 1997. It translated the declaration’s promised policies into a framework for governance after the handover.
Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory: The 1898 agreement that leased the New Territories to Britain for 99 years. The lease’s 1997 expiry made a negotiated settlement over all of Hong Kong urgent.
Hong Kong 1997: The year Hong Kong’s sovereignty transferred from Britain to China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was established. The declaration fixed this year as the date for the transfer.
Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration: The 1987 treaty setting terms for Portugal’s transfer of sovereignty over Macau to China in 1999. It used a related framework for Macau, but addressed a separate territory and transfer.
One country, two systems: A framework allowing certain regions of China to retain distinct political and economic systems under Chinese sovereignty. The declaration committed China to applying this framework in Hong Kong.
Treaty of Nanking: The 1842 treaty that ended the First Opium War and ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain. It began the series of agreements behind British rule in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong autonomy: The scope of Hong Kong’s self-government under Chinese sovereignty. The treaty’s guarantees became a central reference point in later disputes about autonomy.
Hong Kong Act 1985: A United Kingdom statute that gave domestic legal effect to arrangements for Hong Kong’s 1997 transfer. It implemented British obligations at home rather than serving as the bilateral treaty itself.
Hong Kong handover: The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China on 1 July 1997. The treaty’s central undertaking was fulfilled through this transfer.
Convention of Peking: The 1860 treaty that ceded Kowloon south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island to Britain. Its cessions formed another part of the colonial territory addressed in the negotiations.

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