Trans-Siberian Railway as the Russo-Chinese part of the Trans-Siberian Railway, connecting Russia with China and providing a shorter route to Vladivostok. A Russian staff and administration based in Harbin operated it. Siberian agriculture began to send cheap grain westwards beginning around 1869. Agriculture in Central Russia was still under economic pressure after the end of serfdom, which was formally abolished in 1861. To defend the central territory and prevent possible social destabilisation, the Tsarist government introduced the Chelyabinsk tariff-break (Челябинский тарифный перелом) in 1896, a tariff barrier for grain passing through Chelyabinsk, and a similar barrier in Manchuria. This measure changed the
Return of the Chinese Eastern Railway the Soviet Union would regain partial control of the China Eastern Railway in the same arrangement as the original Russian concession from 1896. The railway was to be jointly owned and operated by the Soviet Union and Republic of China. In addition, the Soviet Union would regain sovereign interest in the ports of Lüshun and Dalian, which were at the terminus of the southern branch of the Chinese Changchun Railway, the South Manchuria Railway. The Yalta Agreement stated: "The Chinese-Eastern Railroad and the South Manchuria Railroad, which provides an outlet to Dairen shall be jointly operated by the establishment of