Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Sino-German relations were formally established in 1861, when Prussia and the Qing Empire concluded the first Sino-German treaty during the Eulenburg Expedition. Ten years later, the German empire was founded and the new state inherited the old Prussian treaty. The relations were on the whole, frosty, with Germany joining imperialist powers like Great Britain and France in carving out spheres of influence in the Chinese empire.