Russian traders opt for cheaper markets

A sure sign of how the export drive is slowing can be found at the Russian market, near Beijing's embassy district.

Here, wholesalers complain bitterly about the fall in business.

Since the early 1990s, Russians have been coming in droves to the market to buy mostly cheap clothes and textiles for shipment home.

The trade has been worth billions of yuan each year. But now these highly mobile garment traders are switching to other Asian countries, particularly South Korea, to take advantage of lower prices resulting from the Asian crisis.

'There are a lot less Russians buying,' said Xu Jingbo, who sells dresses.

'This is the worst year since I came to Beijing,' claimed Lili, a native of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, who moved north five years ago to run a clothing stall on the west side of Ritan Park.