The present thesis studies the Qing policy with regard to the Chinese coolie trade (1847-1878), focusing mainly on the Chinese government’s policy toward the Macao coolie trade during the period from 1851 to 1874. As the Opium Wars and the many internal rebellions ravaged China in the nineteenth century, the Qing government’s rule in China, especially in the coastal regions, was weakened and suffered the intervention from the Euro-American Imperialism. During the Second Opium War, the Qing government, under pressure from the British as well as the French, changed its centuries-long prohibition on emigration. Since then, despite the Chinese authorities’ endeavors to regulate emigration and secure the rights of contracted Chinese laborers, the interference of the Western Powers, the corruption, inattention and negligence of the local Chinese officials and, moreover, the complicated position of Macau and its sheltering cover of the coolie trade, all these elements prevented the Chinese government from effectively controlling the emigration of coolies for many years. Even though the Qing government did not renounce its sovereignty over Macau since 1849, it failed to resolve satisfactorily various problems related to this Territory, including the Macao coolie trade. The central government remained ignorant of the situation in Macao, and the Guangdong authorities did not take effective measures to prevent the Macau human trafficking before mid-1872. Sir Robert Hart and Western diplomats and consuls offered many suggestions and encouragements regarding the Macau coolie trade to the Qing government. As the British and Americans opposed more and more strongly the coolie trade, the Guangdong government finally acted to treat the Macau coolie trade more harshly. Under the ideological pressures from the British Empire and the Chinese inspection forces, the coolie emigration from Macao was finally abolished by the Portuguese government.