North Korea’s trade with China hit a record high for this year in September, driven by an uptick in imports, although trade levels remained lower than in the same month last year and prior to the pandemic.

China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) reported on Friday that bilateral trade grew for the second consecutive month, reaching $202.5 million in September, up from $177 million in August and $144.7 million in July.

On an annual basis, however, the figure was still lower than the $216.5 million recorded in Sept. 2023 and the $243.6 million from the same month in 2019 —