China has announced a complete suspension of coal imports from North Korea in its latest effort to fully comply with the United Nation's (UN) sanctions. The move is seen as a retaliatory measure against Pyongyang's latest missile test that was carried out earlier this week.

The coal suspension will become effective from Feb 19 and will last until Dec. 31, China's Ministry of Commerce said on its website. However, the ministry was tight-lipped over reports that it has started rejecting coal shipments from North Korea, with South Korean news agency reporting that China last week rejected coal shipment worth around $1 million.       

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This is not the first time that China has ordered a temporary import ban on North Korea's coal. In December last year, Beijing imposed a three-week import ban on all coal shipments arriving from the neighboring communist nation.

The latest suspension order is expected to bring some financial hardship to the reclusive state, especially considering that this ban will last for almost 10 months. Coal is North Korea's most valuable export, with China being one of its largest importers.  

According to a rough estimate, the isolated communist country was the fourth largest coal exporter to China last year, with non-lignite coal import reaching to 22.48 million tonnes.

The series of UN sanctions passed last year specifically focussed on putting an enormous strain on Pyongyang's financial resources as it sought to squeeze the funding to its controversial nuclear program.

Meanwhile, the North Korea issue completely dominated China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi's meeting with Rex Tillerson on the sidelines of G20 meeting in Germany, the first high-level contact between the two nations since U.S. President Donald Trump assumed the office last year. Tillerson reiterated that China must do more to rein on North Korea's controversial missile program.

This high profile meeting was quickly followed by Wang's speech at the Munich Security Conference, where he urged the U.S. and other concerned allies to re-start the long-stalled six-party talks with North Korea.    

Tagschina, North Korea, Pyongyang, North Korea Coal, North Korea Nuclear Missile Program