Доклады Международного конгресса ИИСАА. Т. 1

458 Proceedings of the International Congress on Historiography and Source Studies of Asia and Africa.Vol. I. 2020 Victoria G. Sharonova (Institute of Far Eastern Studies, RAS, Moscow, Russia) Andrei T. Belchenko: The First Steps in Diplomacy 1 Summary : Among the important sources of historical information about Russian-Chinese relations are memoirs written by diplomat Andrei Terentyevich Belchenko. He hailed from a large Cossack family living in the Voronezh province. While still studying in the secondary school, he showed great ability in sciences. Having received an excellent matriculation certificate, the young Andrei Belchenko in 1893 entered the Oriental Studies Faculty (Sino-Manchu-Mongol Department) of St Petersburg University. In 1894, he simultaneously studied at the Faculty of Law of the University. Student Belchenko showed a great zeal and a high interest in Oriental studies. Brilliantly graduating from St Petersburg University, he, after completing military service, was recruited to the Ministry of ForeignAffairs, and was soon sent to Beijing as a student of the Russian Mission. Arriving at the duty station inApril 1899, A. T. Belchenko began his diplomatic career in China. The young diplomat proved himself to be the best; he was entrusted with very important and complex issues. He paid much attention to the study of the Chinese language and translation activities. Andrei Terentyevich had an impeccable reputation among the colleagues of the Mission, established himself as a decent person and a reliable friend. In the autumn of 1900, Belchenko received his first diplomatic post at the Russian Consulate in Fuzhou. In this southern port, Andrei Terentyevich paid great attention to issues of Russian-Chinese trade, and began to study the specifics of the trade of tea, which in those years was the main Chinese export to Russia. In Fuzhou, two major Russian trading companies for the purchase and production of tea had their branches — “Molchanov, Pechatnov and Co” and “Tokmakov, Molotkov and Co”. With representatives of these companies, the head of the consulate Belchenko visited mountain tea plantations and got acquainted with the work of local factories. In addition to trade issues, Andrei Terentyevich paid great attention to uphold- ing Russian interests in southern China, kept consular records and resolved various legal issues of the local Russian diaspora. A few months later, Belchenko was sent to Hankou, where he replaced the deceased consulA. S. Vakhovich. The young diplomat 1 The study was supported by the RFBR grant № 17–21–21002 “History of the Russian- Chinese tea trade in the central and southeastern provinces of China from the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. According to the materials of Russian and Chinese archives”.