China’s trade with N. Korea plunges due to UN sanctions

China’s trade with North Korea plunged by 50 percent in December as UN sanctions tightened, the Beijing government said on Friday. China accounts for nearly all of Pyongyang’s trade and energy supplies. Imports from the North shrank 81.6 percent to $54 million in December, while exports to Pyongyang contracted by 23.4 percent to $260 million, AP said, citing a spokesman for the Chinese customs agency, Huang Songping. Beijing has imposed limits on oil sales and cut deeply into the North’s foreign revenue by ordering North Korean businesses in China to close, as well as banning purchases of its coal, textiles, seafood and other exports.