evidence: In terms of bilateral cooperation, promises were made and documents signed. These covered economic relations, cultural links (Putin spent the second day of his trip in Harbin), media (Xinhua partnered up with several Russian media agencies), and softening the border by establishing a cross-border reserve for big cats and jointly developing Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (Heixiazi Dao). The last point is particularly curious, as there was public outrage in Russia last year over official People’s Republic of China maps’ demarcation of the island as fully Chinese despite a 2008 agreement to divide the disputed island between the two countries.