When China’s Ministry of Commerce announced an embargo on North Korean coal and other sanctioned commodities on April 5, few seasoned observers believed Beijing would begin strict enforcement. In the wake of North Korea’s previous four nuclear tests over the previous decade, China had shown itself to be lax implementing the UN sanctions in response.

But in April, Chinese imports of the high-quality smokeless coal anthracite from North Korea plummeted, according to data from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) in Seoul which sources Chinese import receipts. Shipments of 1.525 million tons were down 35 percent – albeit compared