Despite Kim Jong Il paying regular visits to China in the final days of his life, under Kim Jong Un relations between Beijing and Pyongyang are widely viewed to have chilled – largely as a result of North Korea’s February 2013 nuclear test, which was conducted in the face of Chinese pressure.

And as relations have thawed, North Korea has increased its outreach to other countries in the region, with Russia and Japan being notable examples.

But although political relations between Beijing and Pyongyang remain cool compared to the Kim Jong Il-era, robust economic relations between