8 wholesale markets to leave Beijing

Beijing is to move eight major wholesale markets out of the city, a move to reduce population density and traffic congestion. According to an agreement signed on Friday, the markets, including malls dealing in clothes, curtains, shoes and small commodities at Beijing's wholesale hub Dahongmen, in Fengtai District, will be moved to Yongqing County in neighboring Hebei Province. More than 9,000 shops and 35,000 workers in the markets will be involved in the relocation, said Xie Rende, executive deputy chief of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. A study by the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences showed 11.6 percent of Beijing's workers are involved in wholesale and retailing businesses. And Chen Gang, vice mayor of Beijing, said that the city has decided to relocate small commodity markets in the downtown area as they are inconsistent with the functions of the country's capital.