China's Sept imports from North Korea down 37.9%, drop for 7th straight month

[BEIJING] China's imports from North Korea fell 37.9 per cent in September from a year earlier, marking the 7th consecutive month of decline, the customs office said on Friday.

China-US ties have been strained by President Donald Trump's criticism of China's trade practices and by demands that Beijing do more to pressure North Korea over Pyongyan's nuclear and missile programmes.

China's exports to North Korea in September dropped 6.7 per cent from a year ago, a spokesman for the General Administration of Customs told a briefing, adding no seafood imports from North Korea were recorded last month.

China's imports from North Korea fell 16.7 per cent on-year to US$1.48 billion in Jannuary-September, while exports to North Korea rose 20.9 per cent to US$2.55 billion in the same period.

That created a trade surplus with North Korea at US$1.07 billion in the first nine months of this year.

REUTERS