1840. The Sino-British Opium War broke out. Two years later, China was defeated and forced to sign the first unequal treaty in China's modern history-the Sino-British treaty of nanking. According to the treaty, the taxes paid by British businessmen on import and export goods should be agreed between China and Britain. This marks the beginning of the loss of China's tariff autonomy. The five trading ports in treaty of nanking, namely, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai, were originally established by the customs. After the opening of the port for trade, although the customs autonomy was lost, the customs administration was still managed by China. However, the ultimate goal of the great powers is to seize the control of China Customs. Through the "Knife Meeting" incident in September 1853, this method was revised in the "Provisions on the aftermath of the trade charter" signed by the Qing government with Britain, the United States and France in 1858: "At the invitation of the Prime Minister, the British (American) people are invited to help with the tax collection, without the recommendation of the British (American) officials. [1] 1859 Horatia Nelson Lay, the British tax supervisor of jianghai customs, was appointed as the general tax department, responsible for recruiting foreigners as the tax departments at various ports. Since then, the management of China Customs by foreign tax authorities has become a system. 186 1 year 1 month. After the establishment of the Prime Minister's Office, Horatia Nelson Lay was appointed as the General Tax Department of the Customs. Horatia Nelson Lay returned to England in April. In June, 2008, the Qing government appointed an Englishman, Guangzhou Deputy Taxation Department, to act as the General Taxation Department. 1In June, 863, Hurd officially became the General Tax Department of the Customs, and began the customs management in China for nearly half a century. At this point, with the "help" of western powers, China's modern customs system with the foreign general tax administration system as the core was finally established.

Second, the organizational structure

In the administrative system of the late Qing Dynasty, China Customs, headed by foreigners, was a very special institution. Starting from 186 1, customs began to be under the jurisdiction of the newly established offices of trade ministers of various countries. After the year of Gengzi, the Qing government reorganized the Prime Minister's Office into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the customs was also changed into a subordinate institution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1906, in order to control the customs, the Qing government set up a tax bureau jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the general tax department of the customs and all tax departments of the customs were placed under the tax bureau. The actions of the Qing government naturally met with strong protests from Britain, which made the original authority not realized. After the Revolution of 1911, the customs continued to be managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1928, Nanjing National Government was established. Since then, the customs has been changed to the jurisdiction of the Customs Department of the Ministry of Finance.

The highest organ of modern customs in China is the General Tax Department, which consists of the General Tax Department and the Deputy General Tax Department, with six clerks. After the founding of the Republic of China, the organization of the State Administration of Taxation was changed to five departments and three departments, and then to nine departments and two departments. The State Administration of Taxation directly governs all tax authorities in China, that is, all customs offices.

Third, the characteristics and influence

The basic national conditions of modern semi-colonial and semi-feudal China determined that the modern ocean in China must present some "China characteristics", mainly in the following aspects:

First, the top leadership of the customs is held by foreigners, and the senior positions of the customs are also monopolized by foreigners. On the one hand, in order to facilitate the economic plunder of China, the powers forced the Qing government to appoint its own "own people"; On the other hand, China, which has been closed to the outside world for hundreds of years, is seriously short of talents who understand modern customs management. In my opinion, the latter situation may account for a larger proportion. Because this not only leads to corruption and confusion in China's own customs management, but more importantly, it gives foreigners an excellent interface to interfere with China's customs autonomy. In fact, western powers also used this as an excuse to steal China's customs management power.

Second, the customs has its own system, which is difficult for the Qing government to control. From the beginning, the Prime Minister's yamen stipulated that all foreigners working in customs should be selected and governed by the State Administration of Taxation, which provided conditions for the State Administration of Taxation to manipulate the General Administration of Customs, and all customs established by the Qing government were originally under the jurisdiction of local governors. With the help of the then British ambassador to China, Hurd took advantage of the opportunity of paying compensation for the Beijing Treaty to successfully take control of the national customs. Since then, the customs system has become an independent system of "needle can't get in, water can't get in". If the Qing government wants to give orders to the customs, it must go through the State Administration of Taxation, otherwise it can't be implemented at all. In order to strengthen the control of the customs, the State Administration of Taxation separated the foreigners in the customs from the bureaucratic system of the Qing government, so that they were not bound by the laws of China. Even if the staff in China break the law, they must notify the State Administration of Taxation before arresting people. All these make Hurd, as the general tax department and foreign invader, not only enjoy the authority of "God" in this system, but also have a great influence on the internal and external policies of the Qing government outside this system.

In addition to collecting taxes, China Modern Customs also undertook other functions. For example, Shi Jing Wentong Museum, established by 1862, is supervised by Hurd, the general administration of taxation, which actually manipulates library affairs, and its teaching is also compiled by the general administration of taxation; 1896, the Qing court issued an imperial edict, ordering the State Administration of Taxation to be in charge of postal affairs, Hurd concurrently served as the General Post Office, and set up the General Post Office and the Deputy General Post Office. They didn't leave the customs until 190 1, Wentong Museum was merged into Shi Jing University Hall,191,and the postal service was taken over by the postal department. The reason for this situation is the lack of talents. Shi Jing Wentong Museum focuses on foreign language teaching and training translators and diplomats. However, in 1862, few people in China can speak foreign languages and understand diplomacy, and all courses except Chinese are taught by foreigners. At the same time, China also lacks talents to deal with modern education, which also needs the help of foreigners. At that time, foreigners who knew foreign languages, modern science and management were basically concentrated in the General Administration of Taxation of the Customs. These factors made Shi Jing Wentong Museum, the first modern educational institution in China, controlled by the General Administration of Customs from the very beginning, and so did postal services.

These characteristics of modern customs in China were determined by the basic national conditions of semi-colonial and semi-feudal China in modern times, which in turn had a far-reaching impact on China. The negative aspects are mainly manifested in two aspects: the loss of customs tariff autonomy and the loss of customs tariff custody. Needless to say, the hazards of these two events are well known to those who have a certain understanding of China's modern history. However, one thing you may not expect is that this organ manipulated by foreigners is actually the only yamen in the Qing government that is not corrupt. In that era of "one year to clear the magistrate, one hundred thousand pieces of silver", China Customs was famous for its incorruptibility, and was even considered as "one of the miracles in the world administrative history". Although this credit is first attributed to foreigners, it has played a positive role model in any case.

Fourth, the return of modern customs sovereignty.

Of course, China people are unwilling to cede their customs sovereignty to outsiders. Therefore, since the 1970s, a group of "eye-opening intellectuals" have emerged who oppose agreed tariffs and advocate the restoration of tariff autonomy. Zheng is a bourgeois reformist thinker in modern China. He lived in the southeast coastal area for a long time and realized the necessity of recovering tariff autonomy earlier. He believes that "the right to decide tariffs belongs to his own country. Although big countries can't control the weight of small countries, small countries will not be hindered by big countries. "

Zhang Zhidong was the first to take substantive action. 1September 7, 902, Zhang Zhidong telephoned the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Liu Kunyi and Sheng Xuanhuai to accuse China of the harm caused by the loss of customs sovereignty, and put forward a two-step plan to recover customs sovereignty: the first step was to make it clear with Hurd that China people should also be employed in senior positions such as the General Administration of Customs and Taxation; The second step is to send people to study in the customs, and finally replace foreigners with China people. Zhang Zhidong's plan was adopted by the Qing government. 1906, the Qing government set up a tax office, 1908 set up a tax school, and the intention to recover tariff sovereignty was obvious. Although these actions failed to realize the desire to recover tariff sovereignty, they led to the weakening of customs authority, and customs began to decline.

After the collapse of the Qing government, in order to maintain China's international reputation and ensure that China could continue to repay foreign war reparations and loans, the Beiyang government of the Republic of China authorized Ange, then the General Tax Department, to continue to be in charge of customs. During the period from 19 1 1 to 1928, all the customs duties of China were handed over to an international banking committee in Shanghai, which represented the interests of foreign creditors in China. Only after paying compensation and loans will the general tax authorities hand over the rest to the government of the Republic of China. Before these payments were made, customs duties were entrusted to HSBC in the UK.

The huge amount of boxer indemnity is hard to fill even the customs revenue. The government of the Republic of China has to use some conventional tariffs. This gives the General Administration of Customs and Taxation, which is controlled by the British, greater power and independence. Although there are quite a few China employees in the Customs, as high as 1927, no one from China has been appointed as the deputy tax secretary of the Customs.

1926 During the Northern Expedition, the National Government declared tariff autonomy and set up the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance to take charge of receiving and managing customs affairs. 1927 Nanjing National Government was established. At that time, although the national government controlled most provinces, customs clearance was still in the hands of the General Administration of Customs and Taxation of Beiyang Government.

At the suggestion and operation of Zhang Fuyun, the then Commissioner of Customs, the customs was finally incorporated into the management system of the Republic of China. It adopts the method of cooperation with Merle Ho, the General Administration of Customs and Taxation, to reform the customs, such as stopping.

Recruit foreigners, Chinese and foreign employees have equal rights and obligations, and Chinese and foreign employees receive equal pay for equal work. Appoint a China person as the secretary of the General Taxation Department of the Customs, send China employees abroad for further study, and cancel the absolute right of the General Taxation Department to handle customs clearance; Customs duties are no longer deposited in HSBC, but in the central bank of the national government, and the government can make full use of this part of the funds; Modify tariffs and so on. The direct effect of the reform is to make China's foreign trade and customs tariffs advance by leaps and bounds.

After the General Administration of Customs of the National Government successfully gained control over the customs, Zhang Fuyun began to negotiate tariff autonomy. He first raised the issue of establishing tariff and import tariff system, and decided to adjust tariff rate. Later, he began to negotiate with other countries on China's tariff rate and reached an agreement.

Until the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), it not only declared the end of modern China, but also declared the end of modern customs in China. The new China will naturally take back all the powers of the customs. At this point, after being manipulated by foreigners for nearly a century, China's customs management power has finally returned to China people's own hands.