N. Korea-China trade surpasses $427 mil. in January to February, highest in 9 years
Police stand guard on the platform as people try to take pictures of the K27 train bound to Pyongyang at the Tianjin station in Tianjin, Thursday. AFP-Yonhap
Trade between North Korea and China surpassed 2.94 billion Chinese yuan ($427 million) in the January-February period this year, marking the highest amount in nine years, Chinese data showed Wednesday.
China's exports to North Korea amounted to 2.31 billion yuan, while imports reached 625.6 million yuan during the two-month period, marking a combined 19.6 percent increase from the trade volume recorded a year earlier, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.
The two-month figure marks the highest level since 2017, when trade reached 5.37 billion yuan, signaling a recovery in bilateral trade as the two countries move to mend ties frayed by Pyongyang's military alignment with Russia.
China is by far North Korea's largest trading partner. Annual bilateral trade, however, plunged to 16.1 billion yuan in 2018 from 34.31 billion yuan in 2017 after China joined U.N. Security Council actions to impose sanctions against the North.
Trade took another blow from COVID-19 border controls to further shrink to 2.05 billion yuan in 2021 before beginning a gradual rebound thereafter.
Annual trade amounted to 19.5 billion yuan last year, up 26 percent from the previous year.
North Korea and China last week resumed international rail service between their capitals for the first time in six years, as the two countries move to mend strained ties.