section_path: Reign (1762–1796)/Foreign affairs/Relations with China
section_name: Relations with China
paragraph_text: Relations with China
  
  The Qianlong Emperor of China was committed to an expansionist policy in Central Asia and saw the Russian Empire as a potential rival, making for difficult and unfriendly relations between Beijing and Saint Petersburg. In 1762, he unilaterally abrogated the Treaty of Kyakhta, which governed the caravan trade between the two empires. Another source of tension was the wave of Dzungar Mongol fugitives from the Qing Empire who took refuge with the Russians.
  
  The Dzungar genocide which was committed by the Qing Empire had led many Dzungars to seek sanctuary in the Russian Empire, and it was also one of the reasons for the abrogation of the Treaty of Kyakhta. Catherine perceived that the Qianlong Emperor was an unpleasant and arrogant neighbour, once saying: "I shall not die until I have ejected the Turks from Europe, suppressed the pride of China and established trade with India". In a 1790 letter to Baron de Grimm written in French, she called the Qianlong Emperor " mon voisin chinois aux petits yeux " ("my Chinese neighbour with small eyes").