China-North Korea trade jumps after pandemic slump but sanctions curb business with Pyongyang

Name: North Korea stages huge welcome for visiting Chinese leader Xi Jinping
Uploaded: 2021-04-19T10:37:25.000Z
Duration: 1 min 27 s
Description: North Korea stages huge welcome for visiting Chinese leader Xi Jinping

Exports from China to North Korea hit US$12.98 million in March, according to Chinese customs data

China’s exports to North Korea will likely be limited to farm materials such as fertiliser, tractors and parts

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China-North Korea trade has been severely hampered by the pandemic and sanctions. But the nations may be growing closer amid tension with the US. Photo: Reuters

ReutersandLaura Zhou

Published: 6:37pm, 19 Apr 2021Updated: 11:05pm, 19 Apr 2021

Trade between China and North Korea grew to a six-month high in March, figures from Chinese customs show in the latest sign that the two neighbours are easing border restrictions amid tensions with the United States

Exports from China to North Korea jumped from a paltry US$3,000 in February to US$12.98 million in March, according to Chinese customs data released on Sunday.

That was nearly 400 times more than the US$33,000 combined shipment of January and February, and was the highest by value since September, when China recorded outbound shipments valued at US$18.88 million to the isolated neighbour. Pyongyang imposed strict controls on goods transport ahead of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party in October.

According to Chinese customs, China imported US$1.308 million of North Korean goods in March, compared with US$1.75 million in February.

North Korea, though highly dependent on its trade with China, was among the first countries to close its borders with China after the initial coronavirus outbreak was reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in January and has since imposed one of the strictest border controls, with flights, cargo ships and trains from China suspended. North Korea claims it has had no Covid-19 infections.

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North Korea stages huge welcome for visiting Chinese leader Xi Jinping

There have been signs Beijing and Pyongyang are moving closer amid growing pressure from the US which, in the latest annual threat assessment of the US intelligence community, lists China and North Korea alongside Russia and Iran, as the main national security challenges that “demonstrated the capability and intent to advance their interests at the expense of the United States and its allies, despite the pandemic”.