Official: Objective view needed on China trade with DPRK

World
Europe

By CGTN's Su Yuting

China's General Administration of Customs has announced the country's trade figures with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for the first half of 2017.

At a press conference, spokesperson for the customs bureau, Huang Songping, said China's imports from the DPRK had fallen for four consecutive months.

“According to China Customs, our trade with the DPRK was 2.5 billion US dollars. Exports were 1.6 billion US dollars, up by 29.1 percent, while imports were 880 million US dollars, a drop of 13.2 percent," he said.

"We need to have an objective view on trade between China and the DPRK, and the growth of numbers cannot be seen as a reference to question China's implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions," Huang added.

CGTN Photo

"The Security Council sanctions against the DPRK are not a comprehensive embargo, and goods related to people's livelihoods, especially humanitarian goods, should not be banned. As a neighbor, China maintains normal trade links with the DPRK," Huang pointed out.

Huang said that from February 19, China has suspended coal imports from the DPRK in line with new UN Security Council resolutions.

“In the first half of this year, we imported 2.7 million tons of coal from the DPRK, down by 70.4 percent. This is a demonstration that China has been earnestly implementing the Security Council resolutions," he said.

Donald Trump's tweet criticizing China over trade with the DPRK. /CGTN Screenshot

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump slammed Beijing on Twitter over trade links with Pyongyang.

However, the Foreign Ministry said that China is abiding by UN sanctions on the DPRK. Spokesperson Geng Shuang said economic and trade links between China and the DPRK remain at a normal level.

"Resolution 2321 from the UN Security Council states that iron and iron ore exports related to people's livelihoods and which aren't used to make money for the nuclear program, should not be affected by the sanctions," he said.

DPRK's leader Kim Jong Un oversees a successful missile test./VCG Photo

"We will continue to strictly implement UN sanctions on the DPRK," he added.

The Foreign Ministry announcement came after the US urged Beijing to step up diplomatic and economic pressure on the DPRK over its nuclear ambitions.

Donald Trump has denounced China's trade with the DPRK and increased calls for Beijing to put further economic pressure on Pyongyang.

In response, the Foreign Ministry said that the so-called "China responsibility theory" needs to stop and that all countries concerned should pull their weight.

2km