The 6th definitive issue on the stamps of Russia’s 13th, 16th, 17th, and 19th issues.
Russian Post in China was a postal service organized by the government of the Russian Empire in China and operating from 1870 to 1920.
To improve postal exchanges with China, to support the work of Russian consulates, trade missions, and private firms, and later to ensure normal communications in concession territories, Russian post offices began to open from the late 19th century.
Under the opinion of the State Council, approved at the highest level on March 23 (April 4), 1870, the Russian Post in China was established as a private enterprise under the patronage of the Russian government and receiving an annual subsidy of 17,600 rubles. The service operated along the route between Kyakhta and Tianjin, and four Russian post offices were established on this line—in Urga, Kalgan, Beijing, and Tianjin. These offices accepted and dispatched all kinds of correspondence to all parts of Russia and abroad.
At the beginning of the 20th century, such offices existed in Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan), Mongolia, Manchuria, along the Chinese Eastern Railway, and in a number of Chinese ports (Tianjin, Chefoo, Shanghai, and others).
For postage, both stamps of the Russian Empire and special issues for mail in China were used. Such stamps bore the overprint “China” and, until 1917, were used at an exchange rate of 1 ruble = 1 Chinese dollar (yuan). With the onset of inflation, from 1917 the stamps were used only at face value in Chinese currency.
By agreement with the Soviet Government of Russia, the Russian post offices in China were closed in December 1920–January 1921.