North Korea’s trade with China notched a pandemic-era high in September, as the country continued to recover from a nationwide COVID-19 outbreak and authorities greenlit a rail restart, customs data shows. 

According to trade figures from China’s General Administration of Customs, North Korea’s imports from China exceeded $90 million in September, a relatively swift recovery from a low of $14.5 million in May when state media reported the first COVID-19 outbreak in the country 

Exports dipped slightly to $14.2 million, continuing the country’s long-running trade deficit.

The new figures mean North Korea’s imports from China were over $221 million in