The railway departments of China and Russia agreed to use large containers to carry goods, according to the Ministry of Railways Tuesday.

The ministry said its minister Liu Zhijun and President of Russia Railways Cop. Ltd. Yakunin reached the agreement before the opening ceremony of the Year of Russia.

The two sides agreed to expand transportation capacities in 2006 and 2007 to meet the increasing trade exchanges.

Transporting crude oil by direct trains from Zabaikalye, Russia, to Manzhouli, China's largest land port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has gained a success, and the two countries decided to explore the possibilities of transporting ore and fertilizer.

According to the Ministry of Railways, railways of the two countries transported 30.85 million tons of cargo via the ports along the borders in 2005, up 26.5 percent year on year.

Statistics from the Russian side show that cargo moved by railways accounted for 70 percent of the total cargos transported via the ports along the borders in 2005.

The two countries planed to transport cargo of 37 million tons via the ports along the borders.

Yakunin said the Russian side was rebuilding the railway session from Karymskoye to Zabaikalye so as to improve the transport capacity greatly in 2007.

Source: Xinhua