The Voice of America (VOA) says that trade between North Korea and China reached an all-time high last year.

Citing data from the Chinese commerce ministry, VOA says that bilateral trade topped three billion dollars from January to November last year, up nine-point-six percent from the previous high for the period put up in 2008.

During the eleven-month period last year, North Korean exports to China grew 43 percent from 2009 to over one billion dollars, but due to hefty Chinese imports, the North ran a deficit of 970 million dollars with China.

The North's number-one import item from China was crude oil and other oil products followed by boilers and machinery.

Its top export items to China were minerals such as coal and iron ore. Minerals were followed by clothes, steel and fisheries, in that order.