China: A contemporaneous sketch of the Macartney Embassy to China (1793). The Qianlong Emperor receives...

The Macartney Embassy, also called the Macartney Mission, was a British embassy to China in 1793. The Mission ran from 1792-94. It is named for the first envoy of Great Britain to China, George Macartney, who led the endeavour. The goal of the embassy was to convince Emperor Qianlong of China to ease restrictions on trade between Great Britain and China by allowing Great Britain to have a permanent embassy in Beijing, possession of 'a small unfortified island near Chusan for the residence of British traders, storage of goods, and outfitting of ships', and reduced tariffs on traders in Guangzhou.