The spring and summer of 2017 have been an unusual time in recent history for relations between North Korea and China. This is perhaps truer for economics than for politics. As many point out to demonstrate why President Trump’s North Korea strategy will not work, China has rarely had direct and full leverage over North Korean regime decisions and the DPRK is certainly no client state of China’s.

Nevertheless, it is hard to deny that China holds significant potential leverage over the North Korean economy. After all, around 90 percent of recorded external trade by North Korea