Conflicts & Resolutions · Treaty

Sino-British Joint Declaration

1984 · 20th century

The Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed in Beijing on 19 December 1984 by Margaret Thatcher and Zhao Ziyang. Prompted by the expiry of the New Territories lease in 1997, it provided for the transfer of all of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997, with its capitalist system and way of life to remain unchanged for fifty years under 'one country, two systems'.

Sino-British Joint Declaration — Image: Tomoaki INABA from Brussels, Belgium · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Hong Kong (British)

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Cite this entry

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Sino-British Joint Declaration. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sino-british-joint-declaration
MLA: “Sino-British Joint Declaration.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sino-british-joint-declaration. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Sino-British Joint Declaration.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sino-british-joint-declaration.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Sino-British Joint Declaration’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sino-british-joint-declaration (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻