N Korean firms in China are ordered to close
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.
It was reported the companies will be shut by early January.
Joint Chinese and North Korean ventures will also be forced to close.
The move is said to be part of an international response to North Korea’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test.
The UN Security Council, of which China is a member, voted unanimously for fresh sanctions on September 11.
North Korea is politically and economically isolated, and the vast majority of its trade is with China.
Beijing has traditionally been protective of its neighbour, but has sharply criticised its nuclear tests and escalating rhetoric amid fears that it could draw America into the region - a prospect which worries China.
Earlier this year, it clamped down on its purchase of coal from Pyongyang and on seafood and iron trade across the border.
Coupled with the textile trade ban, North Korea has lost several of its scant sources of foreign currency income.
Pyongyang does not publish accounts or economic data, which leaves economists guessing over the country’s performance.
But South Korea’s central bank bases its estimates on information from its National Intelligence Service.
It believes that last year, North Korea’s economy grew at its fastest pace in 17 years - with GDP up 3.9 per cent despite international economic sanctions.
Small shops and markets have been springing up in the capital over the past decade.
But that does not mean ordinary people are doing well.
North Korea’s economy is geared towards supporting its large military - which analysts believe consumes up to 25 per cent of the country’s GDP. Income inequality is rife, with some shops in Pyongyang stocked with all sorts of luxury goods, while other citizens have very little.
Meanwhile, Malaysia has banned its citizens from travelling to North Korea as the country faces increasing diplomatic pressure over its weapons programmes.
The travel ban prompted the region’s football governing body to postpone for the third time an Asian Cup qualifier match between Malaysia and North Korea scheduled for October 5 in Pyongyang. The match has already been delayed twice.