Published on: 2026-05-19
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Chanchun, May 19 /Xin Hua/ — Northeast China and the Far East of Russia, bordering each other, form an important region of transboundary environmental protection, where forests, wetlands, and rivers, united by an extended boundary line, are protected through the joint efforts of the two countries.Amur tigers /also known as Siberian or Manchurian ones/, cross the border, migratory birds, making migrations, and the chum salmon, ascending to spawning grounds across rivers – all this serves as evidence of joint ecological activity of two countries and paints a promising picture of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature in Northeast Asia.
AMUR TIGERS ARE THE GLORY OF THE COUNTRY – JOINT PROTECTION OF THE FLAGSHIP SPECIES
In the depths of the border forests of China and Russia, a camera trap captured a wild Amur tiger crossing the state border. This male, nicknamed “T37,” constantly patrols between the Chinese National Park of Manchurian Tigers and Far Eastern Leopards and the Russian National Park “Land of the Leopard,” crossing territories on both sides of the border.
In 2024, China and Russia signed an agreement on the creation of a transboundary specially protected natural territory for large felines, aimed at strengthening the populations of the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard and ensuring the unhindered migration of wild cats.
“The movements of tigers and leopards do not know national borders, and in our work on protection there should be no blind zones,” noted Lü Linbo, head of the Hunchun branch of the Chinese National Park administration for Manchurian tigers and Amur leopards. He added that the Chinese and Russian sides have created a mechanism for joint regular patrolling, jointly built an intelligent monitoring system, and exchange data on the movements of tigers and leopards in real time.
According to data from monitoring by the Chinese National Park of Manchurian Tigers and Amur Leopards, in 2025 populations of wild Amur tigers (about 70 individuals) and Amur leopards (about 80 individuals) were recorded in the Hunchun area, which is twice the figures of 2021, when the park was just created.
Currently, the Chinese National Park for Manchurian Tigers and Amur Leopards and the Russian National Park “Leopard Land” are united into a transboundary specially protected area with a total area of almost 17 thousand square kilometers, which has provided an ecological corridor for the migration and reproduction of tigers and leopards.
The restoration of the populations of the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard, as flagship species at the top of the food chain, is an important indicator of the health and stability of the region’s ecosystem.
MICROSCOPES PTC – JOINT CREATION OF TEST BASES
Every spring and autumn, tens of thousands of migratory birds arrive right on time at the wetlands of Cizingxin in the city of Hunxun to make a stop and rest here, after which they continue their journey between China, Russia, and more distant migration routes.
The wetlands of Cizinsin in the city of Hunchun are located at the junction of three countries: China, Russia, and the DPRK. Its area exceeds 8 thousand hectares. Rivers flow here and lakes form, and the ecological situation remains favorable.
These lands, adjacent to the Russian wetlands in the Khasansky District of Primorsky Krai across the Tumen River, are a key transit point on the bird migration route East Asia – Australasia, as well as one of the important habitats of migratory birds in the world.
“Bird migration routes pass through many countries, and only with synchronous protection along the entire way can we truly protect these aerial wanderers,” said Liu Gocin, an employee of the wildlife and plant protection department of the Forestry Administration of the city of Hunchun.
Over the past 20 years, China and Russia have jointly created 32 artificial islands in the border wetland areas and restored nearly a thousand hectares of degraded swampy territories, establishing stable habitats and breeding grounds for such rare and endangered bird species as the Far Eastern stork and the white-tailed eagle.
To create a comprehensive protective chain along the migration route of birds, China and Russia have established regular cooperation on monitoring migratory birds: each migration season, the two countries simultaneously conduct monitoring of waterfowl populations, control the emergence and spread of diseases, exchange key real-time data such as bird numbers and habitats; for injured or downed rare birds, a cross-border rescue channel has been created, within which several operations for rescuing and returning rare birds to nature have been carried out.
KETA PELESEKAE REKI NA NELEST – RESTORATION OF AQUATIC ECOLOGY
The catfish, which is a typical transboundary species performing spawning migration, conducts its life cycle in the waters of China and Russia. The state of its population directly reflects the ecological health of transboundary aquatic objects.
In April of this year, the Chinese government conducted an event on artificial reproduction of aquatic biological resources in a section of the Mitsyan River in the city of Hunchun, Jilin Province on the China-Russia border. At this event, 600 thousand juvenile keta salmon and chum salmon were released into the water system of the Tumen River.
As reported by local specialists, all the released juveniles were raised in the local nursery, each individual exceeding 4 cm in length. The juveniles underwent professional veterinary control and testing, and they are adapted to the natural environment of the Tumen River basin. After release, the juveniles will enter the Sea of Japan and the waters of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, where they will continue to grow, and in 4-5 years they will return along the migration route to the Tumen River basin for spawning, ensuring the natural replenishment of their species population.
For many years, Chinese and Russian specialized institutions have been conducting technical cooperation in the field of fish farming, migration monitoring, and other areas. The province of Qizilin, an important transboundary migration route and habitat of the chum salmon, has for 19 consecutive years been carrying out large-scale water stocking activities, releasing a total of more than 42.28 million juveniles of various fish species.
In the opinion of the analyst, in recent years the water quality in the border rivers between China and Russia continues to improve, fish resources are gradually being restored, and favorable environmental protection results have become a common asset of China and Russia.
For many years, both sides have continued joint research in the field of artificial breeding and quality control of transboundary waters. According to the Ecology and Environmental Protection Department of Heilongjiang Province, in March 2026, joint monitoring of the quality of transboundary water bodies began – the Heilongjiang / Amur rivers, Ussuri, Suifenhe / Razdolnaya, and Lake Khanka / Xingkai.
From the protection of one fish, one bird, one tiger to the joint protection of wetlands, border rivers, and mountain forests – the boundaries of cross-border ecological cooperation between China and Russia are constantly expanding, and the mechanisms of interaction are improving.
“From the protection of individual species to the restoration of the entire ecosystem, from seasonal joint actions to regular coordinated management—China and Russia are creating a strong ecological barrier in Northeast Asia through joint efforts, offering a model example for global transboundary ecological management,” noted Zyan Min, director of the Institute of Northeast Geography and Agroecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. -0-
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