China is North Korea’s most important economic partner, diplomatic protector, and geographic neighbor, sharing a 1,400-kilometer border along the Yalu and Tumen rivers. Daily NK covers North Korea China relations across multiple dimensions — bilateral trade and smuggling, the treatment of North Korean defectors in China, Beijing’s enforcement of UN sanctions, and the strategic calculations behind China’s support for the Kim regime. Our border-region sources provide unmatched ground-level insight into one of the world’s most consequential and opaque bilateral relationships.
Tag: china
North Korea sends 10,000 workers to China in a month
North Korea has sharply ramped up the number of new workers it is sending to China this summer, with roughly 10,000 laborers crossing the...
North Korea curbs cheap overseas labor dispatch
North Korean authorities have moved to revoke authorization for state agencies and trading companies to send workers abroad, and are also re-evaluating the profitability...
China quietly eases customs rules for North Korea
China has temporarily eased customs rules for equipment and materials bound for North Korea's civilian economy. The move, which could reshape China-North Korea trade...
Residency ID rumors spark hope for North Korean defectors in China
Rumors that China may soon issue permanent residency ID cards to North Korean defectors are spreading rapidly across the country's northeast. The rumors have...
New bridge stirs a housing boom in North Korea’s Sinuiju
Apartment prices in Sinuiju, a North Korean border city, have been climbing steadily since the COVID-19 pandemic. A source in North Pyongan province told...
In China, North Koreans hear they’re the poor ones
North Korean authorities boast of the country's rising international standing. But in 2026, a very different story is spreading among North Korean people in...
North Korea orders cabinet: take China’s cash, not its culture
North Korea has issued a new China directive to cabinet officials, ordering them to separate economic gains from ideological control even as Pyongyang seeks...
North Korea orders custom e-bikes from China, eyes local production
North Korea is ordering custom electric bicycles from Chinese manufacturers and importing the finished products to meet rising domestic demand. At the same time,...
With North Korea tourism stalled, China agencies push business visas instead
As hopes fade for a resumption of Chinese group tours to North Korea, travel agencies are pivoting to a new product this year: business...
Chongjin fishermen struggle to secure fuel before squid season
Fishermen in Chongjin, North Hamgyong province, are struggling to secure fuel ahead of North Korea's squid fishing season, which begins in earnest in late...
