Voice of America says that China made an estimated 12 million dollars of direct investments in North Korea last year.

The report cited data released by the Chinese Commerce Ministry stating that China’s investment is more than double the five-point-eight million dollars it invested in 2009.

However, the figure is only a third of the record 41 million dollars it posted in 2008.

The U.S. based broadcaster said China's total investment in the North from 2003 through last year reached roughly 110 million dollars.

It added the 12 million dollars China invested in North Korea last year is only a mere 0.017 percent of China's overall volume of foreign direct investments in 2010.