North Korea’s trade with China jumped nearly 30% year-on-year in June to $228.9 million, new customs data shows, maintaining a trend of strong growth in 2025 amid tentative signs of improvement in the bilateral relationship.

The total trade volume last month was just shy of May’s $230 million, but surpassed the $222.1 million worth of trade in April, according to official data from China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) released Friday.

Trade from January to June totaled $1.26 billion, representing a 30% increase compared to the same period last year and far surpassing the $729 million in total trade