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Metro.uk.co
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China’s government has ordered most North Korean-owned
businesses and ventures with Chinese partners to close under UN sanctions
imposed over the North’s nuclear and missile programmes, according to reports.
A Ministry of Commerce order said businesses owned by North Korean companies or
individuals must close within 120 days of the September 11 approval of the
latest sanctions, according to reports in the Chinese media.
China is North Korea’s main trading partner and
businesses in China help to provide the isolated country with foreign currency.
UN sanctions that have been steadily tightened ban North Korea from selling
coal and textiles and order other governments to limit fuel supplies. North
Korean businesses and ventures with Chinese partners must close within 120 days
of the September 11 approval of the latest sanctions, according to the Ministry
of Commerce. That would be early January.
North Korean companies operate restaurants, trading
outfits and other ventures in China, helping to provide the North with foreign
currency. The latest round of sanctions approved by the UN Security Council ban
member countries from operating joint ventures with North Korea.
The sanctions also ban sales of natural gas to North Korea and purchases of the North’s textile exports, another key revenue source. They order other nations to limit fuel supplies to the North. China, which provides the bulk of North Korea’s energy supplies, announced Saturday it would cut off gas and limit shipments of refined petroleum products, effective January 1. It made no mention of crude, which makes up the bulk of Chinese energy supplies to North Korea and is not covered by the UN sanctions.
China also has banned imports of North Korean coal, iron and lead ore, and seafood since early September. On Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce defended its recent imports of North Korean coal as permitted by UN sanctions. A ministry spokesman, Gao Feng, said imports that were reported in August trade data were allowed by a ‘grace period’ for goods that arrived before the UN ban took effect. The imports are ‘in line with the resolution,’ Gao said.
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