Moscow market: Chinese traders get some help

China and Russia reached a broad consensus to deal with the sudden closure of a Moscow market from where thousands of Chinese traders operated, Vice-Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng said on Saturday.

Nearly 60,000 Chinese operated out of the Cherkizovsky Market, according to the Russian Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Local authorities cited smuggling and safety concerns on June 29 when they shut down the 200-hectare premise, said to be Eastern Europe's biggest daily wholesale market. The closure has resulted in a loss of about 40 billion yuan (about $5.85 billion) for about 50,000 companies in China, the Beijing Times reported.

Gao, leading a team of ministry and trade officials, reached Moscow last week to hold negotiations with relevant Russian authorities.