"Rail Container to boost trade with Russia" from South China Morning Post

"Rail Container, the joint venture between Russian state-controlled TransContainer and China Railway International Multimodal Transport, which comes under the Ministry of Railways, was launched on Monday. TransContainer owns 50 per cent plus one share of the joint venture, while the Chinese partner owns the rest. On the same day, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced plans for a US$14 billion extension of the Trans-Siberian Railway that will increase trade with China, according to Russian media reports."

"Northern wilderness transformed into grain basket on Mao's orders" from South China Morning Post

"The fertile black-earth plains of the northeast, China's most important grain-producing belt, turn golden yellow in autumn, a broad sweep of rice paddies and farmland stretching on towards the horizon.

But half a century ago, the vast expanse of Heilongjiang land, bordering Siberia, was covered by marshes and known as Beidahuang, the Great Northern Wilderness."