HARBIN - A group of environmental experts finished a preliminary investigation regarding ecological immigration near a cross-border lake in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province earlier this month, local authorities said Monday.

A buffer zone for the immigration project around the shore of Xingkai Lake on the Sino-Russian border is being set aside, said Shang Erzeng, a spokesman for the lake's administrative bureau.

Paid for by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the local government, the immigration project is aimed at protecting the forests, wetlands and wildlife around the lake, Shang said.

As the largest freshwater lake in northeast China, Xingkai Lake has a large ecosystem consisting of forests and wetlands.