Authorities in Moscow have agreed to return Chinese businessmen their goods seized in a raid at the city’s Cherkizovsky Market, media reported Tuesday.

Local authorities seized US$5 billion worth of goods belonging to Chinese businessmen after the Cherkizovsky Market was shut down for "sanitary and fire violations" on June 29.

The report said Russian authorities made the decision after the Chinese Embassy in Moscow and the Chinese Foreign Ministry made representations to several Russian departments, including Federal Migration Service, Investigation Committee and local police.

Georgy Smoleyevsky, the first deputy head of Moscow's consumer department, said July 14 that authorities were planning to remove all goods from Cherkizovsky by the end of 2009.

More than 1,500 vehicles have entered the market in two days to carry away the goods. "Some poor traders have to use wheelbarrows or even shoulder bags to carry their products of goods by themselves," a Russian television reported.

Chinese goods worth US$2 billion were seized from the same market in September last year and Russian authorities said they would destroy all those goods as they were "illegally smuggled into Russia".