The Chinese government is calling on Seoul to stop providing settlement assistance to North Koreans who defect to the South.

Japan's Sankei newspaper quoted a Chinese official as claiming that part of such state subsidies were being funneled to brokers who had helped North Koreans successfully seek asylum in South Korea, thus fueling further defections from the communist country.

The reports said China's request of Seoul coincides with strengthened border patrols, crackdowns on defection brokers and Beijing's request of neighboring countries to refrain from giving North Korean escapees temporary refuge.

The Seoul government currently gives up to 30 million won or 28,700 U.S. dollars in resettlement funds to North Korean asylum seekers after their arrival in South Korea.