The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Beijing

China and Russia on Monday signed an agreement that ended a decades-long territorial dispute, in the latest sign of warming ties.

The protocol, signed by the two countries' foreign ministers in Beijing, adds to an existing agreement on their 4,300-kilometre (2,700-mile) boundary.

"This means that our international border has been demarcated in its entirety," Russian Foreign Minster Sergei Lavrov said in front of reporters after the agreement was signed with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi.

"From a legal point of view we have created the preconditions for the border to become a link of stability, openness, mutual benefit, friendship and cooperation."

There were no specific details given to the press about the agreement, but the state-run China Daily newspaper said the agreement involved Russia handing back 174 square kilometres (69.6 miles) of island territory to China. All of Yinglong island, known as Tarabarov in Russian, and half of Heixazi island, Bolshoi Ussuriysky in Russian, on the rivers that border the countries in China's far northeast were returned, according to the paper.

A bitter rift during the Cold War saw the one-time communist allies fight skirmishes along their border.

Recently, however, Russia and China have drawn closer together.

After his meeting with Lavrov, Yang spoke positively about the way ahead for bilateral relations.

"We exchanged views about how to further promote our bilateral strategic relationship and strengthen our cooperation at the regional and global levels. We reached a broad consensus. I think our discussions were positive," Yang said. China and Russia have resolved a 40-year-old dispute over their border, Chinese state media said Monday, in the latest sign of warming relations between the once bitter rivals.

Russia will return 67 square miles of territory on the northeast border with China, the China Daily newspaper reported. An agreement will be signed during Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to Beijing on Monday, when he is scheduled to hold separate meetings with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, the report said. China and Russia share a 2,700-mile-long border.

The border tug-of-war reaches back centuries to the competition for territory as imperial China and czarist Russia expanded toward each other. The struggle over border areas resulted in violent clashes in the 1960s and '70s, when strained Sino-Soviet relations were at their most acrimonious, feeding fears abroad that the conflict could erupt into nuclear war.

The newspaper said Russia will return Yinlong Island (known as Tarabarov Island in Russian) and half of Heixiazi Island (Bolshoi Ussuriysky) to China. The areas lie in northeast China where the Heilongjiang river, which becomes the Amur river in Russia, and the Wusulijiang river meet.

Former Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a border agreement with China for the first time in 2004. But it is not clear how far that accord went to resolve the dispute over the stretch of river and islands along China's northeastern border with Russia's Far East.

China and Russia were bitter communist rivals during the Cold War, but diplomatic ties have warmed considerably in recent years, partly from a mutual desire to counter U.S. influence in world affairs.

Beijing is also eager to secure access to Russia's oil and gas deposits, and has been a major customer of Russian military hardware.