Negotiation on Sovereignty and Administration

Sino-British negotiations on the handover of Hong Kong began in 1979 with Governor MacLehose’s visit to Beijing. In 1982, China formalized the “one country, two systems” policy for Hong Kong. The British originally wanted to relinquish sovereignty over the ceded territories in exchange for continued British rule after 1997. After the British agreed to China’s proposal of “one country, two systems” and China’s plans for the future of Hong Kong, the two countries reached the Sino-British Joint Declaration, an agreement widely seen as an example of win-win cooperation between countries to resolve issues left over from history.