On 31 December 1952, the Soviet Union returned full control of the Chinese Eastern Railway to the People's Republic of China. The return of the railway marked the first time that the Chinese Eastern Railway (known as the Chinese Changchun Railway at the time) had been under full Chinese control since its construction in 1898. The handover of the railway was the result of negotiations between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China culminating in the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. The Friendship Treaty stipulated that the Chinese Changchun Railway (CCR) be handed over to China no later than 31 December 1952. On that date, China received all of the assets of the Chinese Changchun Railway including 3,282.7 kilometers of railway lines, 10,200 railcars, 880 locomotives, power plants, heavy industries, and coal mines as well as houses, medical facilities, and schools. The transfer of this fully operable railway gave the People's Republic of China control over a politically and economically significant rail line. The Chinese Changchun Railway connected the national railway system to the important ports of Dalian, and Lüshun as well as to international border crossings with the Soviet Union (at Manzhouli and Suifenhe) and to North Korea (at Dandong, Ji'an and Tumen).

The history of the Chinese Eastern Railway played an integral role in Sino-Soviet relations throughout the 1950s. The railway was a key part of the negotiations that culminated with the Sino-Soviet Friendship Treaty and marked the high point of Sino-Soviet cooperation. As a crucial transportation link for the country, the Chinese Changchun Railway connected China to the outside world, as well as the factories of the Northeast of China to the agricultural centers outside of Manchuria. The railway was and still is crucial to China's economic growth as it connects valuable coal and oil fields to the coastal cities, as well as the important cities of Shenyang, Harbin and Dalian. On the political side, the return of the Chinese Eastern Railway was a diplomatic victory for the Chinese Communist Party, gaining Chinese control over an enterprise that was one of the last remnants of European colonization. Furthermore, the return of the railway and associated Friendship Treaty established the era of Sino-Soviet cooperation that would last until the Sino-Soviet split. The railroad would prove valuable during both the Korean War and the military tensions of the Sino-Soviet border conflict as well, by providing the PLA logistical support to the important border cities of Manzhouli and Suifenhe.

Background

At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet government agreed to join the war against Japan ninety days after the surrender of Nazi Germany. One condition of the Soviet Union's agreement to enter the war against Japan was for the return of all Russian territory and property taken during the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War. As a result of the Yalta Agreement, upon the end of the war against Japan, the Soviet Union would regain partial control of the Chinese Eastern Railway in the same arrangement as the original Russian concession from 1896. The railway was to be jointly owned and operated by the Soviet Union and Republic of China.Zhang Shengfa, "Return of the Chinese Changchun Railway to China by the USSR." In Manchurian Railways and the Opening of China, 171–94. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, 2010. Page 171. In addition, the Soviet Union would regain sovereign interest in the ports of Lüshun and Dalian, which were at the terminus of the southern branch of the Chinese Changchun Railway, the South Manchuria Railway. The Yalta Agreement stated: "The Chinese–Eastern Railroad and the South Manchuria Railroad, which provides an outlet to Dairen shall be jointly operated by the establishment of a joint Soviet–Chinese Company, it being understood that the preeminent interests of the Soviet Union shall be safeguarded and that China shall retain full sovereignty in Manchuria." On 9 August 1945, the Soviet Union invaded through Outer Manchuria and soon occupied Japanese Manchukuo including the entirety of the Chinese Eastern Railway. Shortly thereafter, the Republic of China government and the Soviet Union signed the "Agreement between the Republic of China and the Soviet Socialist Republic on the Changchun Railway of China." This agreement recognized the joint control of the Chinese Eastern Railway and renamed the line to the Chinese Changchun Railway.

In the spring of 1946, the Soviet Army withdrew from much of Manchuria having regained Soviet interests in the Chinese Changchun Railway, and the ports of Dalian and Lüshun. The Chinese Civil War had resumed and Manchuria became a battleground once more. In April 1946, the Chinese Communist Party took control of Harbin, the operations center of the Chinese Changchun Railway. On 25 July 1946, the CPC established their first railway management administration, the Northeast Railway Administration in Harbin, with Chen Yun and Lü Zhengcao serving as the deputy chief secretaries. These two men alongside the railway managers from the Soviet Union formed the joint management of the CCR, taking control of the railway from the retreating Republic of China. During the civil war, the Chinese Changchun Railway became a battlefield and sustained serious damage during the Battle of Siping, and the Liaoshen Campaign. One of the most critically damaged sites was the bridge over the Songhua River in Harbin which had been destroyed by the retreating Republic of China Army. In response, the Soviet Union deployed the Army's Fifth Engineering Group to help rebuild the bridge and restore service along the CCR. This team of 150 workers and Soviet experts worked alongside Chinese workers to repair the Songhua River Railway Bridge, which reopened in 24 October 1948. By January 1949, the remainder of the Chinese Changchun Railway had been reopened for operation, with the railway administration remaining in the joint Chinese–Soviet ownership and management. The railway was essential for the advancing People's Liberation Army as a pipeline for Soviet aid, making the railroad a significant part of USSR–CPC relations before the establishment of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949.

Timeline of events 1896 — The Qing Dynasty grants a concession to build the railway to Tsarist Russia.

1898 — Russia leases the Liaodong Peninsula from China.

1901 — Railway is completed from Manzhouli to Suifenhe and from Harbin to Dalian and Lüshun.

1905 — The Treaty of Portsmouth is signed; Russia loses control of the Liaodong Peninsula, the southern railway as far as Changchun and the ports of Dalian and Lüshun to the Japanese Empire, which established the South Manchuria Railway to operate it after regauging.

1917 — The October Revolution which leads to the founding of the Soviet Union.

1924 — The Republic of China and USSR agree to joint administration of the Chinese Eastern Railway.

1929 — The USSR and ROC fight a brief war over control of the railway. Soviet victory ensures that the railway stays jointly administered and Soviet owned.

1935 — The USSR sells the Chinese Eastern Railway to Manchukuo; the railway is regauged and becomes part of Manchukuo National Railway.

1945 — Railway jointly administered by ROC and USSR as the Chinese Changchun Railway.

1949 — The founding of the People's Republic of China.

1950 — The Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance is signed.

1952 — The Chinese Changchun Railway is returned to China.

Negotiations The negotiations between the Chinese Communist Party and the Soviet Union regarding the return of the Chinese Eastern Railway began even before the establishment of the People's Republic of China. In January and February 1949, Anastas Mikoyan visited the CPC headquarters at Xibaipo to meet with Mao Zedong. By this point in 1949, it appeared like the Communists would soon defeat the Kuomintang, so Joseph Stalin sent Mikoyan, the minister of foreign trade and a Politburo member as a diplomat to discuss the terms of Soviet involvement in a Communist China. The unequal treaties of the past were brought up and Mao Zedong declared that all treaties signed by previous governments of China would not be recognized by a new government led by the CPC.Zhang, Shengfa. "Return of the Chinese Changchun Railway to China by the USSR." Page 172. However, as a fellow Communist power, the Soviet claims to China would be examined more closely. The Soviet control of the Port of Lüshun was declared to be unequal to CPC but Mao Zedong deemed the presence of the Soviet Army and Navy at Lüshun to be acceptable until a permanent peace with Japan was declared. On the subject of the CCR, Mikoyan later recorded:

"As for the CCR (Chinese Changchun Railway) Treaty, we do not think it is an unequal treaty, this is because the Railway was mainly financed by Russia. The treaty may not fully reflect the principle of equality, however, I said, we intend to discuss and resolve this issue with the Chinese comrades in a friendly manner."Anatas Mikoyan in Zhang Shengfa, "Return of the Chinese Changchun Railway to China by the USSR." Page 173.

Already it was clear to both the CPC and USSR that the status of the CCR would have to be negotiated once the CPC gained control of China. However, both sides wanted to demonstrate goodwill towards each other, and recognition of their mutual interests in China's security and economy.Lüthi, Lorenz., The Sino-Soviet Split, Cold War in the Communist World. 1st ed. Vol. 1. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008. Page 37.

The 1950 Sino-Soviet Friendship Treaty With the establishment of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, the PRC adopted a policy of "leaning to one side", that is allying itself with the Soviet Union. Mao Zedong visited Moscow from December 1949 to February 1950 to establish closer ties with the Soviet Union as well as to receive economic assistance. Mao also wanted to renegotiate the previous 1945 Treaty made between the USSR and Republic of China.Zhang Shengfa, "Return of the Chinese Changchun Railway to China by the USSR." Page 175 For the first two months of his visit, Stalin refused to renegotiate the 1945 Treaty, as it was written alongside the Yalta Agreements and he feared any negotiation of the older treaty would weaken other Soviet positions in the Yalta Agreement.Zhang Shengfa, "Return of the Chinese Changchun Railway to China by the USSR." Page 176. The Soviets had gained significant territory and influence through Yalta and Stalin did not want to give the Western Allies any excuse to broach those parts of the Yalta Agreement. Repeatedly, Stalin turned down Mao's request to discuss a new treaty between the PRC and USSR. On 1 January 1950, Mao Zedong told the Soviet Ambassador to China, N.V. Roshchin, that India, Burma, and Britain were thinking about recognizing the People's Republic of China. With this simple message, Mao told Stalin that Chinese relations with the West were warming, which the Soviet Union did not want, but Mao was also showing that the signing of a new Sino-Soviet treaty would prevent any rapproachment between China and the Western Powers.Zhang Shengfa, "Return of the Chinese Changchun Railway to China by the USSR." Page 177. The very next day, Vyacheslav Molotov visited Mao and told him that negotiations for a new treaty between the USSR and China would begin shortly.