Both leaders stressed the urgency of taking more steps to increase trade. At a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People, Jiang and Yeltsin watched as Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov and Chinese Deputy Premier Li Lanqing signed three documents on economic and technological cooperation and oil and gas. Under the draft plan, gas would flow for 30 years, also supplying Japan and South Korea. Other agreements covered cooperation on regulating trade in financial services, the diamond trade and protecting the Manchurian tiger, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. There are believed to be about 400 of the animals, also known as Amur tigers, in Russia and about 20 in China.
Military hardware remains Russia's biggest export to China.
But on this trip, military co-operation was not on Yeltsin's agenda. The border agreement was six years in the making. The agreement covers the joint use of islands and surrounding waters on the border, but it wasn't clear whether two disputed islands were included. Correspondent Rebecca MacKinnon, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Inc. All Rights Reserved.