Boxer Protocol The Boxer Protocol was signed on September 7 , 1901 , between the Qing Empire of China and the Eight - Nation Alliance that had provided military forces ( Austria - Hungary , France , Germany , Italy , Japan , Russia , the United Kingdom , and the United States ) plus Belgium , Spain and the Netherlands after China ' s defeat in the intervention to put down the Boxer Rebellion at the hands of the Eight - Power Expeditionary Force . It is often regarded as one of the Unequal Treaties . Names . In Western countries , it was also known as the Treaty of 1901 , Peace Agreement between the Great Powers and China . The full name of the protocol is Austria - Hungary , Belgium , France , Germany , Great Britain , Italy , Japan , The Netherlands , Russia , Spain , United States and China — Final Protocol for the Settlement of the Disturbances of 1900 , reflecting its nature as a diplomatic protocol rather than a peace treaty at the time of signature . In China , it was known as the Xinchou Treaty . It was later regarded as one of the " Unequal Treaties " . Negotiations during the Boxer Rebellion . The Qing dynasty was by no means defeated when the Allies took control of Beijing . The Allies had to temper the demands they sent in a message to Xi ' an to get the Dowager Empress to agree with them ; for instance , China did not have to give up any land . Many of the Dowager Empress ' s advisers in the Imperial Court insisted that the war be carried on against the foreigners , arguing that China could defeat the foreigners since it was the disloyal and traitorous people within China who allowed Beijing and Tianjin to be captured by the Allies , and the interior of China was impenetrable . Dong Fuxiang was also recommended by them to continue fighting . The Dowager was practical , and decided that the terms were generous enough for her to acquiesce and stop the war , when she was assured of her continued reign after the war . Signatories . The Boxer Protocol was signed on September 7 , 1901 , in the Spanish Legation in Beijing : " ' Foreign Powers " " ' Chinese Empire The Clauses . 450 million taels of silver were to be paid as indemnity over a course of 39 years to the eight nations involved . Under the exchange rate s at the time , 450 million taels was equal to US $ 335 million gold dollars or £67 million , approximately equal to US $ 6 . 653 billion today . The Chinese paid the indemnity in gold on a rising scale with a 4 % interest charge until the debt was amortized on December 31 , 1940 . After 39 years , the amount was almost 1 billion taels ( precisely 982 , 238 , 150 ) . The sum was to be distributed as follows : Russia 28 . 97 % , Germany 20 . 02 % , France 15 . 75 % , United Kingdom 11 . 25 % , Japan 7 . 73 % , United States 7 . 32 % , Italy 7 . 32 % , Belgium 1 . 89 % , Austria - Hungary 0 . 89 % , Netherlands 0 . 17 % , and Spain , Portugal , Sweden , and Norway 0 . 025 % 。 Also , additional 16 , 886 , 708 taels was paid at local level in 17 provinces . By 1938 , 652 . 37 million taels had been paid . The interest rate ( of 4 % per annum ) was to be paid semi - annually with the first payment being the July 1 , 1902 . The Qing government was also to allow the foreign countries to base their troops in Beijing . In addition , the foreign powers had placed the Empress Cixi on their list of war criminals , although provincial officers such as Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai defended her , claiming that she had no control whatsoever over the whole escapade . She was later removed from the list , though she was to step down from power and discontinue any participation in the affairs of state . Other clauses included : Hoax Demands . The French Catholic vicar apostolic , Msgr . Alfons Bermyn , wanted foreign troops garrisoned in inner Mongolia , but the Governor refused . Bermyn resorted to lies , and falsely petitioned the Manchu Enming to send troops to Hetao where Prince Duan ' s Mongol troops and General Dong Fuxiang ' s Muslim troops allegedly threatened Catholics . It turned out that Bermyn had created the incident as a hoax . One of the false reports claimed that Dong Fuxiang wiped out Belgian missionaries in Mongolia and was going to massacre Catholics in Taiyuan . Demands Rejected by China . The Qing did not capitulate to all the foreign demands . The Manchu Governor Yuxian was executed , but the Imperial court refused to execute the Chinese General Dong Fuxiang , although both were anti - foreign and had encouraged the killing of foreigners during the rebellion . Instead , General Dong Fuxiang lived a life of luxury and power in " exile " in his home province of Gansu . In addition to not only sparing Dong Fuxiang , the Qing also refused to exile the Boxer supporter Zaiyi to Xinjiang , as the foreigners demanded . Instead , he moved to Alashan , west of Ningxia , and lived in the residence of the local Mongol prince . He then moved to Ningxia during the Xinhai Revolution when the Muslims took control of Ningxia , and finally , moved to Xinjiang with Sheng Yun . Remittance . On December 28 , 1908 , the United States remitted $ 11 , 961 , 121 . 76 of its share of the Indemnity to support the construction of Tsinghua University in Beijing . When China declared war on Germany and Austria in 1917 , it suspended the combined German and Austrian share of the Boxer Indemnity , which totaled 20 . 91 percent . At the Paris Peace Conference , Beijing succeeded in completely revoking the German and Austrian shares of the Boxer Indemnity . The history surrounding Russia ' s share of the Boxer Indemnity is the most complex of all the nations involved . On December 2 , 1918 the Bolsheviks issued an official decree abolishing Russia ' s share of the Indemnity ( 146 ) . Upon the arrival of Lev Karakhan in Beijing during the Fall of 1923 , however , it became clear that the Soviet Union expected to retain control over how the Russian share was to be spent . Though Karakhan was initially hesitant to follow the United States ' example of directing the funds toward education , he soon insisted in private that the Russian share had to be used for that purpose and during February 1924 , presented a proposal stating that the " Soviet portion of the Boxer Indemnity would be allocated to Chinese educational institutions . " On March 14 , 1924 , Karakhan completed a draft Sino - Soviet agreement stating " The government of the USSR agrees to renounce the Russian portion of the Boxer Indemnity . " Copies of these terms were published in the Chinese press , and the ensuing positive public reaction encouraged other countries to match the USSR ' s terms . On May 21 , 1924 , the U . S . Congress agreed to remit to China the final $ 6 , 137 , 552 . 90 of the American share . Ten days later , however , it became apparent that the USSR did not intend to carry through on its earlier promise of full renunciation . When the final Sino - Soviet agreement was announced , it specified that Russia ' s share would be used to promote education in China and that the Soviet government would retain control over how the money was to be used , an exact parallel to the U . S . remittance of 1908 . On March 3 , 1925 , Great Britain completed arrangements to use its share of the Boxer Indemnity to support railway construction in China . On April 12 , France asked that its indemnity be used to reopen a defunct Sino - French Bank . Italy signed an agreement on October 1 to spend its share on the construction of steel bridges . The Netherlands ' share paid for harbor and land reclamation , and the Belgian funds were earmarked to be spent on railway material in Belgium . Finally , Japan ' s indemnity was transferred to develop aviation in China under Japanese oversight Once these countries ' approximately 40 percent of the Boxer Indemnity was added to Germany ' s and Austria ' s combined 20 . 91 percent , the United States ' 7 . 32 percent , and the Soviet Union ' s 28 . 97 percent share , the Beijing government had accounted for over 98 percent of the entire Boxer Indemnity . Hence , by 1927 , Beijing had almost completely revoked Boxer Indemnity payments abroad and had succeeded in redirecting the payments for use within China .