Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, ratified Friday a supplementary agreement signed last year between Russia and China on their eastern border.

Russian lawmakers voted 307-80 to approve the agreement, with two abstentions. A total of 226 votes were needed for the deal to breeze through the State Duma, Interfax news agency reported.

Russia and China signed the agreement during President Vladimir Putin's visit to China last October.

The agreement defines the borderline on two sections, which constitute less than two percent of the Russian-Chinese border, left unsettled since 1991 when the two sides signed a border treaty on the eastern part of the common border. Russia and China share a 4,300 km-long border.

The sections include the Bolshoi Island in the upper reaches of the Argun River and the area near Tarabarov and Bolshoi Ussuriisky Islands in the confluence area of the Ussuri and Amur Rivers.

The supplementary agreement "meets Russia's long-term interests and will promote Russian-Chinese strategic cooperation," an explanatory note to the agreement says.
(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2005)