The article is devoted to the relationship between the two empires at the turn of the centuries: Russian and Chinese, as well as the history of the construction of the Chinese-Eastern railway as a kind of culmination of these relations. The work gives a general description of Russian-Chinese diplomatic relations since the beginning of diplomatic interaction between the two states, describes in detail the mutual relations of the parties in the second half of the XIX century, their goals when concluding the secret Moscow Treaty of 1896 (generally accepted historical name of the Russian-Chinese Treaty of Alliance of Russia and China against Japan), as well as the possibility of realization of their objectives. The problems of the Russian-Chinese Convention of 1898, the lease of the Liaodong Peninsula, and the construction of a naval base in Port Arthur are also directly discussed. Copyright © 2019 by International Network Center for Fundamental and Applied Research.