A ship unloads soybean at the Port of Nantong, East China's Jiangsu Province. Photo: VCG

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday refuted a BBC report that many Chinese farmers had leased hectares of land in Russia's Far East and made local people unhappy, saying that the media outlet spreads rumors regardless of the facts.

The report that Chinese companies and farmers expanded in the Far East by leasing hectares of land and farming there was proven false a long time ago, but a certain media outlet still disregards the facts and repeats old rumors, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.

The ministry was referring to a BBC report released on Friday. It claimed that thousands of Chinese people had crossed the border and entered the region, where they are working on farms or arranging leases to set up agricultural companies.

"The media outlet rehashed old rumors to arouse suspicion and smear the cooperation between China and the Far East while sowing discord in the China-Russia relationship," Geng said. "This is irresponsible and unkind." 

China's cooperation with Russia, especially the Far East, has achieved remarkable results during the past 70 years. 

China has remained the largest trade partner of Russia's Far East for many consecutive years, and it is also the region's largest investment source, according to Geng.

Agriculture is an important part of the cooperation between China and Russia's Fast East. Agricultural cooperation in the region has played an important role in boosting both countries' social and economic development and benefiting people in the two countries.