This is a list of treaties that have been negotiated, signed and/or ratified by China before the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, including the imperial Chinese dynasties and the Republic of China (1912–1949). The treaty as a legal document in international law can describe either a specific international instrument or a general category of such instruments of agreement.[1] This list includes the most important examples of both formal treaties and other agreements between China and other nations in this period.