Japan’s Asahi Shimbun says China’s top four state-run banks have suspended money transfer services to North Korea.

The daily reported Thursday that the Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China began to reject remittances to the North sometime between February and March following Pyongyang's third nuclear test.

The Chinese government is said to have personally instructed the four banks to suspend money transfer services out of concerns over the North’s missile launches and nuclear testing.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Bank of China said it notified the North’s Foreign Trade Bank that its accounts were closed and the Chinese bank had also halted all fund transfers related to the North Korean accounts.