China has announced sanctions against North Korea

China has announced a series of sanctions against North Korea.

The country has restricted imports of North Korean coal and sales of jet fuel under UN sanctions.

The Security Council passed a resolution in March, which expanded UN sanctions aimed at withholding funds for the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. It came after Pyongyang conducted four tests in recent months.

While China’s restrictions on its ally allow some North Korean coal and iron ore to be imported for civilian use, any trade connected to the North’s missile or nuclear programmes has been prohibited.

The move by China comes after the global Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington last week. There, at a meeting between Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the US President said both countries were “committed to the [denuclearisation] of the Korean Peninsula”.

Mr Xi said: “China and the US have a responsibility to work together.”

After the vote on the resolution, drafted by the US and China, US Ambassador Samantha Power said the sanctions were the toughest yet.

“Virtually all of the DPRK’s (North Korea) resources are channelled into its reckless and relentless pursuit of weapons of mass destruction,” she said.

UN sanctions have been imposed on North Korea since 2006 because of the country’s nuclear tests and rocket launches.