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ZABAIKALSK, Russia, Nov. 29-- Increased traffic of freight and people has brought prosperity to Zabaikalsk, a small city in the Far East near the Russian-Chinese border, as the two countries are expanding economic and trade cooperation. Timur, the owner of a small eatery by a highway linking Zabaikalsk and China's largest land border port of Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, had a lot of business in the past two years thanks to an inflow of diners. "Many truck drivers came to eat at my restaurant. In summer, I received Chinese tourists from time to time," he said, adding that quite a number of local people made a fortune from driving trucks or engaging in trade at the border just miles away. Outside Timur's restaurant, roaring trucks loaded with Russian beer, candies and beverages sped away toward Manzhouli. Just on the other side of the road, vehicles were busy delivering Chinese products to Zabaikalsk from the opposite direction. According to data from Manzhouli customs, the volume of road freight passing through the Manzhouli port grew 26.5 percent year on year to about 625,000 tons in the first 10 months of this year. Shops selling Chinese clothes, jewelry and electronic devices can be seen on the streets of Zabaikalsk flanked by buildings from the Soviet era. Chinese clothes are warmly welcomed here, a shop owner said. Closer business ties have boosted two-way flows of people as well. Buses shuttling between Zabaikalsk and Manzhouli are usually packed with Russian and Chinese traders. | 
