China’s trade with North Korea reportedly increased last year despite international sanctions against the North.

The Voice of America cited data from China’s General Administration of Customs Tuesday, indicating trade volume between the two countries reached five-point-eight billion U.S. dollars last year, up seven-point-three percent from a year earlier.

North Korea’s exports to China came to two-point-six billion dollars in 2016, up six-point-one percent on-year, while its imports increased by eight-point-three percent to three-point-one billion dollars.  

Amid heavy sanctions from the international community, North Korea’s coal exports to China reached one-point-one billion dollars last year, up 12-and-a-half percent on-year.

A UN Security Council resolution adopted after the North’s fifth nuclear test in November last year placed upper limits on the North’s annual coal exports.

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