China announced it will halt part of imports from North Korea on August 14, as it implemented a package of sanctions passed by the United Nations Security Council on August 6.
China will completely stop imports of North Korean coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood starting from August 15, said the Ministry of Commerce in an announcement.
Accounting for half of North Korea's exports, coal is also on the banning list. Actually, China had already banned coal imports from North Korea earlier this year.
On February 18, China decided to suspend Pyongyang's coal imports until the end of the year and hasn't imported any from DPRK since then in line with UN Security Council's sanctions.
In the first half year, China imported 2.68 million tonnes of coal from Pyongyang, slumping 74.5% from a year ago, all of which were imported before February 18.
The announcement follows an escalating exchange of angry words between President Trump and Kim's government. Trump declared the U.S. military "locked and loaded" while Pyongyang threatened to fire four missiles into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam.
The latest U.N. sanctions are intended to block North Korean exports worth $1 billion — a significant share of total exports valued at $3 billion last year.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Harry Huo)
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