Trade Restriction: China to stop coal import from N Korea 

The ministry did not say why all shipments would be suspended

PHOTO: AFP

SHANGHAI:
China will suspend all imports of coal from North Korea starting February 19, the country’s commerce ministry said in a notice posted on its website on Saturday, as part of its efforts to implement United Nations sanctions against the country. The Ministry of Commerce said the ban would be effective until December 31. China announced in April last year that it would ban North Korean coal imports to comply with sanctions, but it made exceptions for deliveries intended for “the people’s wellbeing”. The ministry did not say why all shipments would be suspended, but South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported last week that a shipment of North Korean coal worth around $1 million was rejected at Wenzhou port on China’s eastern coast.


Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2017.