China's state-run People's Daily has, in an opinion piece in the Xiakedao column, compared the instability in the Korean peninsula with the political turmoil in Syria, noting that North Korea has become an increasing threat to China.

The article said it is time for North Korea to rethink its nuclear weapon strategy as it might eventually jeopardise Pyongyang's political regime. Beijing on Tuesday imposed restrictions on imports of North Korean coal and iron into the country in line with the latest United Nations' sanctions, China's commerce ministry said.

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Trade with China is crucial for the isolated and impoverished North, which suffered regular food shortages and an outright famine in the mid-1990s. In 2014, China accounted for more than 90 percent of North Korea's $7.61 billion in total trade, according to the latest available figures from South Korea's state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. The coal trade between the neighbours was worth $1 billion last year, China's Customs figures show.

The Chinese government issued an official document on Apr. 5 listing specific embargo targets following the United Nation Security Council's Mar. 2 passage Resolution 2270 sanctioning North Korea for its recent nuclear test and rocket launch.

The document titled 'Announcement of the List of Minerals and Metals Banned for Transport into North Korea' was released on Monday by China's Ministry of Commerce and China Customs with guidelines regarding the ban on imports of North Korean minerals and exports of aircraft fuel.

"In order to enforce the related UNSC resolution, transport of the following products to and/or from North Korea is banned in accordance with the People's Republic of China Foreign Trade Law," the document reads. The embargoed items listed in the announcement fall into three major categories: bans on the import of North Korean coal, iron, and iron ore; bans on the import of North Korean gold, vanadium ore, titanium ore, and rare-earth elements; and ban on the export of aircraft fuel to North Korea.

Tagschina, Syria, North Korea, North Korea Sanctions, united nations sanctions north korea, China trade north korea