According to the terms of Treaty of Nanking, China agreed to cede Hongkong to the British crown as originally agreed to Kishan. The ports of Amoy and Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai were opened to the British trade and residence. With this the number of treaty ports increased to five (Canton being the fifth). China agreed to pay an indemnity of twenty one million silver dollars to Britain.
The old system of thirteen hongs was done away with and British and the merchants were left free to carry on business with the Chinese customers directly. Strangely enough the Treaty of Nanking did not make any reference about the traffic in opium which precipitated the conflict except that the Chinese were made to pay compensation for the opium actually seized.
Another noteworthy feature of the Treaty of Nanking was that it did not offer exclusive concession to Britain and similar concessions were also made available to other Western States.
The real significance of the Treaty of Nanking lies in the fact that it for the first time laid down the principles of western intercourse with China. It marked the end of the era of precarious tolerance and the opening of a new era in which the threat of force was always present in dealing with Chinese officials.