Citing data compiled by China's customs office, Voice of America (VOA) said Wednesday Beijing's exports of crude oil to Pyongyang in the first three months of this year also increased 6.7 percent to 159,000 tons from the corresponding period last year.
Earlier, some news reports said there was no Chinese shipment of crude oil to North Korea in February. Such a move was construed as part of China's sanctions on North Korea's third nuclear test in February.
However, Beijing had no such records of crude oil exports to Pyongyang in February of both 2012 and 2011, according to the Washington-based VOA.
According to the Chinese customs office, Beijing has shipped in recent years more than 500,000 tons of crude oil to Pyongyang annually. The figure stood at 528,000 tons in 2010, 526,000 tons in 2011 and 523,000 tons in 2012.
But actually, China is believed to have shipped about 1 million tons of crude oil to North Korea a year.
In a recent congressional hearing, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said China is a supplier of three-fourths of North Korea's crude oil consumption.
By Keat Min Woo
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com