23 September, 2017
Monitoring groups estimate that the nuclear test conducted in North Korea earlier this month had a yield of 250 kilotons, which is 16 times the size of the United States bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.
Asian stocks fell and the Japanese yen and Swiss franc gained on the mooted possibility of North Korea conducting another hydrogen bomb test, this time in the Pacific Ocean. China will suspend such exports once the total exports approaches the ceiling.
"Chinese government authorities will issue a notice based on the export situation when approaching the upper limit, and from that date implement a prohibition on exports of refined oil products to North Korea for the year", it said.
"No matter the difficulties we face, China will always persist in the goal of denuclearising the peninsula, in moving towards talks", Mr Wang said.
The quake comes amid soaring tensions over Pyongyang's weapons programme, with the firing of two missiles over Japan in recent weeks and its sixth and largest nuclear test earlier this month.
North Korea's major diplomatic ally and trading partner announced curtailing the exports of refined petroleum to two million barrels per year.
Petroleum exports for use in the North's ballistic missile program or other activities are banned by United Nations sanctions, the Commerce Ministry said.
Japan and South Korea, the two closest allies of U.S. in the region, have claimed threat from the spree of missile tests conducted by the North.
China also chose to limit exports of refined petroleum products to North Korea from October 1 in line with the export ceiling imposed under the U.N. Security Council Resolution No. 2375.
There have been so many rounds of sanctions against North Korea that it can be hard to keep track.
The measures follow an escalating war of words between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. Kim responded in a statement, calling Trump a "mentally deranged USA dotard" and said "a frightened dog barks louder".
And it's possible that North Korea is able to undermine them.
The US has accused Beijing of not doing enough to pressure Pyongyang into abandoning its nuclear programme. And the last thing they're going to yield on is their deterrence capability.
