Reuters: China Orders Return of N. Korean Coal Imports

Reuters reported on Monday that Beijing has ordered its trade firms to send back North Korean coal imports.
 
Quoting a trading source at Dandong Chengtai Trade, the biggest importer of North Korean coal, Reuters said the company and other Chinese trading companies received an official order from the Chinese customs authorities to return their North Korean coal cargoes.
 
The source told Reuters that the company’s 600-thousand tons of North Korean coal was at Chinese ports waiting to be returned. The source said a total of two million tons of North Korean coal cargoes were sitting at various Chinese ports to be sent back.
 
Reuters said neither the Chinese government nor the company confirmed the report.
 
In February China said that it will ban additional imports of North Korean coal as it had already met its import quota under the UN Security Council’s North Korea sanctions.