BEIJING: China’s trade with isolated North Korea rose more than 10 per cent in the January-June period from a year earlier, a Chinese official said on Thursday, amid pressure from the United States for Beijing to do more to rein in its erstwhile ally.
Last week US President Donald Trump denounced China’s trade with North Korea, saying it had grown almost 40 per cent in the first quarter, and cast doubt on whether Beijing was helping to counter the threat from North Korea.
China has repeatedly said it is fully enforcing United Nations sanctions on nuclear-armed North Korea and there is nothing wrong with what it terms “normal” trade with Pyongyang, referring to areas not covered by sanctions.
Chinese customs spokesman Huang Songping told a briefing on China’s overall trade figures that total trade with North Korea expanded by 10.5 per cent to $2.55 billion in the first six months of the year.
While China’s imports from North Korea dropped 13.2 per cent to $880 million in the period from January to June, exports to North Korea rose 29.1 per cent to $1.67 billion, he said.
The exports were largely driven by textile products and other traditional labour-intensive goods not included on the United Nations embargo list, Huang added.
“As neighbours, China and North Korea maintain normal business and trade exchanges,” he said, adding that goods for ordinary people and those used for humanitarian reasons are not subject to sanctions.
The figures show overall trade in dollar terms with North Korea rose about 12 per cent in June from a month earlier, to $499 million, according to calculations. — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
