North Korea’s trade with China increased from $20.9 million in July to $28.8 million in August, newly released data from China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) shows.

However, year-on-year comparisons reveal that overall trade remains at just a fraction of pre-pandemic levels. In Aug. 2019, DPRK-China trade was worth $235.5 million — over eight times the latest figures.

The data shows that total Chinese exports to North Korea increased to $22.5 million in August from $16.8 million in July. Meanwhile, Chinese imports from the DPRK jumped over 50% from last month’s figures, although the total volume of imports was just