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.

Exxon Mobil's profit declined in its first quarter as natural gas prices fell and industry refining margins dropped.

The energy company earned $8.22 billion, or $2.06 per share, for the three months ended March 31. A year earlier it earned $11.43 billion, or $2.79 per share.

The results didn't meet Wall Street expectations, but Exxon does not adjust its reported results based on one-time events such as assets sales. Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research were expecting earnings of $2.19 per share.

Shares declined slightly before the market open on Friday.

The Spring, Texas-based company's revenue totaled $83.08 billion, down from $86.56 billion a year earlier. Wall Street forecast revenue of $86.6 billion.

Production in Guyana reached more than 600,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day, a higher-than-expected level, the company said.

Exxon went on a bit of a shopping spree last year when oil prices were surging.

In July, the company said it would pay $4.9 billion for Denbury Resources, an oil and gas producer that has entered the business of capturing and storing carbon and stands to benefit from changes in U.S. climate policy.

In October Exxon topped that deal by announcing that it would buy shale operator Pioneer Natural Resources for $60 billion. Two months later, the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces federal antitrust law, asked for additional information from the companies about the proposed deal. The request is a step the agency takes when reviewing whether a merger could be anticompetitive under U.S. law. Pioneer disclosed the request in a filing in January.

Elevated levels of cash for all big producers drove a massive consolidation in the energy sector. In October Chevron said it would buy Hess Corp. for $53 billion.

Oil markets are being stretched by cutbacks in oil production from Saudi Arabia and Russia, and the war between Israel and Hamas still potentially runs the risk of igniting a broader conflict in the Middle East. While attacks on Israel do not disrupt global oil supply, according to an analysis by the U.S Energy Information Administration, “they raise the potential for oil supply disruptions and higher oil prices.”

Elsewhere in the sector, Chevron Corp. reported a first-quarter profit of $5.5 billion, or $2.97 per share. Its adjusted profit was $2.93 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations, but Chevron also does not adjust its reported results based on one-time events such as asset sales. Analysts surveyed by Zacks predicted earnings of $2.84 per share.

The oil company posted revenue of $48.72 billion, which fell short of Wall Street's estimate of $49.94 billion.

Chevron's stock dipped in premarket trading.

FILE - Delegates meet at the Exxon Mobil booth during the LNG2023 conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Exxon Mobil reports their earnings Friday, April 26, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, File)