The paper focuses on the history of the formation and development of the port of Dalniy as an ambitious, promising and last colonial project of the Russian Empire. On March 15, 1898, a convention was signed between the Russian Empire and the Qing Empire, according to which the territory of the Liaodong Peninsula and its seaports were leased to Russia. The Kwantung Territory became the first and last colony of the Russian Empire located outside its borders. The port of Lyushunkou, already widely known as Port Arthur, was destined to become a military base of Russia, while the port of Dalianvan, which was named “Dalniy”, was intended to be a commercial port. The Russian presence on the Liaodong Peninsula has been well studied in Russian historiography in the context of the famous “Manchurian question” and the prehistory of the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905. However, the history of these Russian ports on the territory of China has not been much emphasized although this issue becomes more important due to new projects in the Russian Far East (Primorye-1, Primorye-2, the Northern Sea Route). The paper analyses the historical conditions under which the port of Dalniy was acquired, the first projects related to the construction of the city and the commercial port. Moreover, the author describes the issues of implementation of the free customs zone and development trends of the foreign trade in the Far East in the early years of its existence. The conclusions indicate the main advantages of Dalniy as a sea port and the first results of its performance.