North Korea’s exports to China have risen to the highest level since stringent international sanctions on the regime were put in place. 

According to the International Trade Center(ITC), the North’s outbound shipments to China stood at 22-point-three million U.S. dollars in April. 

It was nearly double the amount posted a year earlier and marked the highest level since UN Security Council Resolution 2397 was implemented in February of last year following the North’s sixth nuclear test in September of 2017. 

The North’s monthly exports to China hit a trough in February of last year at nine-point-42 million dollars and remained at slightly over 10 million dollars for several months, but began to rise in August of 2018. 

The country’s imports of Chinese products also grew to 218-point-seven million dollars in April compared with 161-point-eight million dollars a year earlier.