Compared with the same period in 2000, Beijing's exports to Russia increased six-fold in the first quarter of 2001, accounting for 80% of the city’s total shoe production, and 28.4% of its total export trade with Russia.

According to local reports, state-owned enterprises have become a vital new force in the shoe sector, thanks mainly to streamlining of government policy. Modernised Sino-Russian rail links and a new Beijing-Moscow express, on which many of the exports are conveyed, have also spurred growth.

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