Rail freight and passenger turnover between China and Primorsky Region plunged in 2009 by 21% and 80% y/y, respectively, RIA Novosti reports, citing a source in the Vladivostok office of Far East Railroad.

It was the first nose-dive of such magnitude in a decade, the source emphasized.

Just over 6.7 million tons of freight was reportedly shipped both ways last year through the largest frontier checkpoint between the two areas, Grodekovo – Suifenhe.

In 2009, 117,900 passengers traveled through the same checkpoint, Far East Railroad added.