The U.S. is planning to tell China to exert more pressure on North Korea to give up on its controversial nuclear program during next week's U.S.-China bilateral summit, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said on Friday.

"China has the ability to both create pressure and use that as a leverage that is a very important part of global efforts to isolate North Korea and get North Korea to change its policies," Lew said.

Like Us on Facebook

Lew and several other important U.S. leaders including Secretary of State John Kerry will head to Beijing next week to attend the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. The annual summit usually focuses on strategic and economic issues affecting both countries.

Since China is North Korea's closest ally, the U.S. and other countries are relying on Beijing to exert pressure on Pyongyang. However, China's efforts did not deter North Korea from conducting a nuclear missile test earlier this year.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, the U.S. strengthened its punitive actions to further financially isolate North Korea. The U.S. enlisted North Korea in the list of "primary money laundering concern," under the Patriot Act. This means any financial institution would face heavy sanctions for processing dollar transactions on behalf of Pyongyang. Analysts have said that his move will invariably affect the China-North Korea trade ties.   

Lew said that the latest punitive action from the U.S. is in line with the United Nations sanctions against North Korea. Experts say the sanctions are aimed at draining North Korea's financial sources, which would adversely affect its nuclear ambition. Some have described the current UN sanctions against North Korea as toughest sanctions till date.

China, which has backed the latest UN sanctions, has warned that financially isolating North Korea could politically and economically destabilize the country. Experts have noted that such a scenario could lead to refugee crisis along the China-North Korea border.

Tagschina, North Korea, US, North Korea nuclear program