At the end of the Opium War, China was defeated. Although this loss severely undermined the power of the Qing dynasty, they did not know that their loss would have serious repercussions. The emperor signed a treaty with the British which would later be known as one of the "unequal treaties" concluded in China during this period. The treaty in question was named the Treaty of Nanjing (also known as the Treaty of Nanking). This treaty would have lasting effects even in recent history. In the 17th century, China implemented the Canton system. At first, foreigners were allowed to trade both in Canton (otherwise known as Guangzhou) and other ports. This was on the condition that they had a security merchant to vouch for their behavior (Wills 2006). However, when the English decided to trade in Ningbo to circumvent the need for a security merchant, the Chinese government closed all ports except Canton and established what is today called the Cohong system, the system most closely associated with the Canton system ( Testaments 2006). This system maintained that trade could only be done with merchants approved by the government. Thus, at that time, the Cohong had a monopoly on foreign trade. Although foreigners wanted China to open its ports, the truth was that China didn't really need foreign trade. As Michael Greenburg quotes in British Trade and the Opening of China: “If all of China's foreign trade had suddenly ceased in 1877, the economic life of the country would have been very little affected. » This was due to China's self-sufficient economy, based on agriculture. The British found this lack of interest in international trade vexing and, according to Greenburg, "attributed the odious restrictions ...... middle of paper ......n (then synonymous with Westernization) to the part of the Chinese. Works Cited Wills, John E., Jr. “Canton System.” History of world trade since 1450. Ed. John J. McCusker. Flight. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 98-100. Gale's global history in context. Internet. October 9, 2010. Greenberg, Michael. British Trade and the Opening of China 1800-42. New York: Monthly Review, 1979. Print.Zhou, Yongming. Anti-Drug Crusades in 20th-Century China: Nationalism, History, and State-Building. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999. Print.Hsü, Immanuel Chung-yueh. The rise of modern China. New York: Oxford UP, 1995. Print. Hanes, William Travis and Frank Sanello. Opium Wars: the dependence of one empire and the corruption of another. Naperville, IL: Source, 2002. Print. Waley, Arthur. The Opium War through Chinese eyes. London: Allen & Unwin, 1958. Print.