Border guards from Russia and China have carried out joint anti-terrorist drills on Russia's southern frontier, in what participants have hailed as an example of the positive working relationship between the two countries.
The high-level drills were held to prepare officials for extreme-case scenarios in the Zabaikalsky region, Interfax reported Monday, citing experts.
A spokesman for the Zabaikalsky Border Service also took the opportunity to praise cooperation between the two countries' border forces, who have since the turn of the year stopped a number of people and materials from crossing the border.
"Since the start of 2014, at the Zabaikalsky-Manchuria checkpoint, we have detained strategic raw materials and precious metals totaling more than 3.5 million rubles ($94,000), detained 21 violators of the state border and 278 violators of the border regime," spokesman Sergei Zhdanov was quoted as saying by Interfax.
He added that Russia and China had conducted nine border checks and had held 36 working meetings this year.
The latest exercises were observed by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization — a Eurasian political and military union of which both Russia and China are members.
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