China’s imports of North Korean goods last month fell below US$100 million to the lowest in nearly three years, data showed yesterday, after China stopped buying coal from the isolated country and as calls mount for further economic sanctions.
China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and the source of much of its badly needed foreign currency.
The world’s second-largest economy last month bought goods worth US$99.3 million from North Korea, the lowest monthly tally since at least June 2014, according to Chinese customs data.
Previous data were not available.
That compared with US$114.6 million in March and US$167.7 million a year earlier.
US President Donald Trump has been urging China to put more pressure on North Korea to step back from its nuclear and missile programs and lavished praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last month for efforts to do so.
Yesterday’s data indicate that China’s halt of North Korean coal imports on Feb. 26 is having an effect and curbing Pyongyang’s ability to raise hard currency through exports.
Cho Bong-hyun, who heads research on North Korea’s economy at IBK Bank in Seoul, said China’s imports to North Korea were likely to continue to decline due to Pyongyang’s repeated missile tests and the suspension of coal shipments to China.
“This won’t be disastrous for North Korea, but it will obviously hurt North Korea because it tends to export goods to China worth around US$3 billion per year,” he said.
The value of imports has fallen month-on-month since December, the data showed.
China’s exports to North Korea eased to US$288.2 million last month, down 12 percent from March. Exports for the first four months of the year were up 32 percent at US$1 billion.
China is North Korea’s chief ally, but it has become increasingly frustrated by Pyongyang’s provocative behavior.
North Korea fired a ballistic missile into waters off its east coast on Sunday, the second test in a week, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
Data released later yesterday showed that China did not take any North Korean coal last month for a second straight month, after Beijing’s ban of such imports following missile tests by Pyongyang.
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