An official from the Chinese embassy in Russia has announced that a special import and export committee will be jointly established by Russia and China in order to protect the free flow of goods traded between the two countries.

The establishment of this committee comes as a direct result of a recent incident when Chinese shoes worth 80 million yuan ($9.9 million) were detained in Russia due to an incomplete customs declaration. According to the China Leather Industry Association, this was the second time that large quantities of Chinese shoes had been impounded by Russian officials for this reason.

An official from the Chinese Embassy said that both the Chinese shoe manufacturers and Russian customs clearance companies were responsible for the incident. The official said that many Chinese goods had been exported to Russia through disreputable Russian customs clearance companies since the end of the Soviet Union.