WE HAVE LITTLE LAND AND A LOT OF PEOPLE

Mayak's chairman, Yevgeny Fokin, leased thousands of hectares to Chinese entrepreneurs, attracted by low rents and large farms.

"We gave the shares to Fokin, thinking it would be better if the land belonged to the collective. But he gave it all to the Chinese and left, and we lost everything," a local resident of Maksimovka village, Tatyana Ivanovna, said.

"No way," says Mr Fokin. "There was nothing unusual about it."

How Chinese companies took over

Chinese companies first appeared in Russia's Far East in the early 2000s, but Beijing's interest in the region increased after the global financial crisis of 2008.

"There was panic, [the Chinese] were looking at where to invest," the head of a Chinese-owned farm told BBC Russian, preferring not to give his name.

Chinese investment was followed by an influx of Chinese migrants.

"We have little land and a lot of people," said one Chinese farmer.

Chinese farmers are, according to BBC research, represented in 40% of the Far East, most significantly in the Jewish autonomous region of Birobidzhan.

Regional governor Alexander Levintal said that in many cases land officially leased by Russians was in reality managed by Chinese nationals.

"Almost all the land that belonged to collectives was handed over to the Chinese," said the head of the Jewish autonomous region's peasant association, Alexander Larik.