China's June trade with North Korea falls by more than half

China's imports from North Korea plunged 92.6 percent in June compared with a year earlier under U.N. sanctions imposed to stop Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, the customs agency said Friday.

In this Sept. 4, 2017, file photo, trucks cross the friendship bridge connecting China and North Korea in the Chinese border town of Dandong, opposite side of the North Korean town of Sinuiju. (AP Photo/Helene Franchineau, File)

Exports of Chinese oil and other goods to the North fell 40.6 percent, a customs agency spokesman, Huang Songping, said at a news conference. He gave no financial totals.

The trade curbs have remained in place despite diplomatic contacts including U.S. President Donald Trump's June meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In this May 24, 2018, photo, tourists peek through the telescopes into North Korea as a truck crosses the friendship bridge connecting China and North Korea in the Chinese border town of Dandong, opposite side of the North Korean town of Sinuiju. (Chinatopix Via AP)

American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who visited Pyongyang this month, said sanctions wouldn't be lifted until Kim follows through on his pledge to scrap its nuclear weapons.

China provides nearly all of the isolated North's trade and energy supplies. Beijing has imposed limits on oil exports and sharply reduced North Korean revenue by banning purchases of its textiles, seafood and coal.

Beijing was long Pyongyang's diplomatic protector but has supported the U.N. sanctions out of frustration at what Chinese leaders see as their neighbor's increasingly reckless behavior.

Beijing also ordered North Korean-owned restaurants and other businesses in China, an important revenue source, to close.

In this May 24, 2018, photo, trucks cross the friendship bridge connecting China and North Korea in the Chinese border town of Dandong, opposite side of the North Korean town of Sinuiju. (Chinatopix Via AP)

In the first six months of the year, Chinese imports fell 88.7 percent from the same period of 2017 to 690 million yuan ($103 million), according to Huang. Exports declined 43.1 percent to 6.4 billion yuan ($960 million).

Huang said Chinese exports to the North have declined for 11 straight months, while imports have declined for 10 months.

Beijing has "consistently implemented" the U.N. trade curbs, Huang said.

Also Friday, a deputy Chinese foreign minister sounded a reassuring note about North Korea after Trump complained Beijing might be disrupting diplomatic efforts due to its trade dispute with Washington.

The official, Kong Xuanyou, said there has been "positive momentum" and Beijing is in "close coordination" with Washington.

"We will stay in touch with the United States through various channels in a joint effort to uphold peace and stability on the peninsula to facilitate the political settlement of the Korean issue," Kong said.

If the governments involved "candid discussions as equals," then "all the questions will find the right answers," he said.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan recorded a trade deficit for the third straight fiscal year as the costs of energy and other imports rose and the yen remained weak.

The deficit was 5.89 trillion yen ($38 billion) for the fiscal year that ended in March, according to Finance Ministry data released Wednesday.

The biggest trade deficits were in the Middle East, mainly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Australia and Indonesia. Japan had a trade surplus with the U.S. and some European countries.

Annual exports to China slipped slightly, declining for the first time in four years, although the latest monthly data show exports to China recovering, growing 12% from the previous year.

Robert Carnell, regional head of research Asia-Pacific at ING Economics, said strong technology-related exports were behind the jump in exports to China, while noting exports were also growing to other regions.

“We think exports will be the main engine for growth in the coming months,” he said in a report.

The recent decline in the value of the Japanese yen affected the trade balance, as it cost more in yen to import and boosted the value of exports when converted to yen. The U.S. dollar is trading at above 150 yen recently, up from 130-yen mark a year ago.

Data for the month of March, also released Wednesday, showed Japan marked a trade surplus of 366.5 billion yen ($2.4 billion), as exports grew 7% from a year ago, while imports declined nearly 5%. Exports to the U.S. in March grew more than 8%.

The fiscal 2023 trade deficit was much smaller than what was racked up in fiscal 2022, when the economy was hit by the war in Ukraine and energy prices soared. It was about the same as what was recorded in fiscal 2021. Japan had a trade surplus in fiscal 2020.

The social restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic made securing parts, including computer chips, a challenge, denting Japan’s production and exports. But such problems have gradually eased.

By product category, Japan imported food, while exporting autos, auto parts and electrical machinery. Inbound tourism is booming, which counts statistically as an export.

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FILE - A container ship is loaded and unloaded at a container terminal at a port of Kawasaki near Tokyo on March 9, 2022. Japan recorded a trade deficit for the fiscal year ended in March, the government said Wednesday, April 17, 2024, as costs of energy and other imports rose amid a weakening yen. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)