In the management of foreign affairs, Shen's education and experience could provide little guidance. Nor was he aided by a bureaucracy familiar with these matters. As yet undeveloped was an administrative apparatus that could deal with issues arising from the opening of the province to foreign trade, travel, and evangelization. And while the freshly signed Treaty of Tientsin (1858) and Convention of Peking (1860) helped define the overall nature of China's foreign relations, their provisions were extremely unfavourable to the Chinese. Thus, as the foreigners attempted to maximize their privileges by interpreting the treaties liberally, the Chinese tried to curb foreign encroachments and influence by a more literal reading of the treaties. Nonetheless, because the central government often failed to provide a detailed interpretation of the treaties as they might be applied in concrete situations, much was left to the devices of individual local officials.

Influenced by his teacher, his father-in-law, and ching-shih scholars such as Wei Yüan, Shen was troubled by China's deteriorating international position, especially since its defeat in 1860. But up to 1862 he had had no contact with foreigners or foreign affairs. Since he later emerged as a leading manager and promoter of modernizing (yang-wu) enterprises, and many features typical of his later career can be traced back to ideas formulated in the early 1860s, his conduct of foreign relations deserves analysis.