China’s ambassador to the U.N. urged the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to relax North Korean sanctions on Thursday, a day after his U.S. counterpart called for more rigid enforcement of the current sanctions regime.

Ambassador Zhang Jun, repeating a position China has advocated for years, said in a press conference that the U.N. should roll back DPRK sanctions.

“It has always been China’s view that we should also address the humanitarian dimension caused by the sanctions imposed by the Security Council. We [have] seen negative impact because of the sanctions,” Zhang said.

China along with Russia circulateda proposal at