Empress Dowager Longyu issued the abdication edict along with the favorable treatment conditions for the Qing imperial family, marking the formal exit of the Qing Dynasty. The Beiyang clique and local gentry completed the transfer of power through a leveraged buyout.
Duan Qirui, along with 47 high-ranking Beiyang generals, issued a joint telegram for the republic, delivering an ultimatum for abdication to Empress Dowager Longyu in the name of saving the throne.
On January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen delivered the Inaugural Address in Nanjing, swore the oath to assume the office of Provisional President, and the Provisional Government of the Republic of China was formally established — the first central government of the Republic of China.