North Korean trade with China more than doubled in March compared to the same month last year, official trade data shows, in what one expert called a positive sign for the DPRK economy battered by years of severe COVID-19 controls.

The DPRK imported $137.9 million worth of goods from China last month, while exporting $20.6 million in goods to its neighbor, according to Beijing’s General Administration of Customs.

The $158.46 million in bilateral exchange made March North Korea’s second-strongest month of trade with China since the pandemic began, after peaking at $206.2 million in January.



Notably, last month’s figure