The bilateral relations between People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) (, ko, 조중 관계, translit=Chojung Kwangye) have been generally friendly, although they were sometimes strained in recent years because of
North Korea's nuclear program. They have a close
special relationship and China is often considered to be North Korea's closest ally. China and North Korea have a
mutual aid and co-operation treaty, which is currently the only defense treaty either country has with any nation.
China maintains an
embassy in the North Korean capital of
Pyongyang and a
consulate general
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
in
Chongjin
Chŏngjin (; ) is the capital of North Korea's North Hamgyong Province (함경북도) and the country's third largest city. It is sometimes called the ''City of Iron''.
History
Prehistory
According to archaeological findings near the lower ...
. The
embassy of North Korea in China is located in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
's
Chaoyang District, while a consulate general is in
Shenyang. North Korea has adhered to the
One China principle, where it recognizes the PRC as the only representative of "China", and neither
recognizes the legitimacy of the
Republic of China (ROC) nor the so-called
"Taiwan independence".
China and North Korea have, in the past, enjoyed close diplomatic relations. However, China–North Korea relations have declined markedly over the past few years until 2018. Since 2018, ties between North Korea and China also appear to have improved and returned to normalcy, with
Workers' Party of Korea chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
Kim Jong-un making
multiple trips to Beijing to meet
Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, si ...
. In the past, decline in China–North Korea relations was primarily due to growing concern in China over issues such as North Korea's
impoundment
Impoundment may refer to:
Water control
* The result of a dam, creating a body of water
** A reservoir, formed by a dam
** Coal slurry impoundment, a specialized form of such a reservoir used for coal mining and processing
* Impounded dock, an en ...
of Chinese fishing boats and more importantly its
nuclear weapons program.
Relations have again been increasingly close since 2018, especially after Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang in June 2019.
Favorable views of North Korea among Chinese people appear to be receding. According to a 2014
BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
World Service Poll, 20% of Chinese people view North Korea's influence positively, with 46% expressing a negative view.
Country comparison
Paramount leaders of China and
Supreme leaders of North Korea since 1950
ImageSize = width:1400 height:auto barincrement:70
PlotArea = left:80 right:15 bottom:80 top:5
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Define $start = 01/01/1950
Define $end = 31/12/2020
Period = from:$start till:$end
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1950
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1950
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
Colors =
id:1 value:red legend:First_Administration
id:wh value:white
id:2 value:blue legend:Second_Administration
id:3 value:orange legend:Third_Administration
id:4 value:green legend:Hu–Wen_Administration
id:5 value:yellow legend:Xi–Li_Administration
id:kim1 value:purple legend:First_Generation
id:kim2 value:pink legend:Second_Generation
id:kim3 value:skyblue legend:Third_Generation
BarData =
bar:cn text: China
bar:us text: North Korea
PlotData=
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line,black) width:25
bar:cn
from: 14/03/2013 till: $end color:5 text:"Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, si ...
"
from: 15/03/2003 till: 14/03/2013 color:4 text:" Hu Jintao"
from: 09/11/1989 till: 15/03/2003 color:3 text:" Jiang Zemin"
from: 22/12/1978 till: 09/11/1989 color:2 text:"Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
"
from: 09/09/1976 till: 22/12/1978 color:1 text:" Hua"
from: $start till: 09/09/1976 color:1 text:" Mao Zedong"
bar:us
from: 17/12/2011 till: $end color:kim3 text:" Kim Jong-un"
from: 30/07/1994 till: 17/12/2011 color:kim2 text:" Kim Jong-il"
from: $start till: 30/07/1994 color:kim1 text:" Kim Il-Sung"
History
Early history and Korean War
The
Beiyang government
The Beiyang government (), officially the Republic of China (), sometimes spelled Peiyang Government, refers to the government of the Republic of China which sat in its capital Peking (Beijing) between 1912 and 1928. It was internationally ...
of the
Republic of China recognized the
Korean Government-in-exile on April 13, 1919, during the period of
Japanese colonial rule over Korea. After World War II, the northern half of Korea was placed under Soviet administration. The
People's Republic of China and the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea exchanged diplomatic recognition on 6 October 1949 with the PRC recognized the DPRK as the sole legitimate authority of Korea.
In May 1950, North Korea's Supreme Leader
Kim Il-sung secretly visited Beijing to brief
Chinese Communist Party chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
Mao Zedong and the Chinese leadership on his war plans. Following setbacks sustained by the
Korean People's Army and
the crossing of the 38th parallel by the
United Nations Command led by the
United States Armed Forces, in October 1950 Chinese forces secretly crossed into North Korea in response to security concern of a possible U.S. invasion of Chinese territory. The
China–North Korea border
The China–North Korea border is the international border separating the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). It runs for 1,352 km (840 mi) from the estuary of the Yalu River in the ...
assumed great strategic value for the
Chinese Communist Party after the
Empire of Japan invaded China through Korea twice in the
First Sino-Japanese War and the
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden Incident. At the war's end in February 1932, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo. Their occupation lasted until the ...
.
It subsequently entered the
Korean War in support of North Korea.
China had cautioned that they would go as far as risking an all-war with the US-forces if they advanced towards the
Yalu River
The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
. However,
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...
defied US and UN orders and pushed towards the
Yalu River
The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
, which enlarged the conflict when Chinese forces fought back and caught the UN forces by surprise, resulting them to retreat back to the 38th parallel, eventually turning into a stalemate and also the
current boundary between North Korea and South Korea.
In addition to dispatching the
Chinese People's Volunteers
The People's Volunteer Army (PVA) was the armed expeditionary forces deployed by the History of the People's Republic of China (1949–1976), People's Republic of China during the Korean War. Although all units in the PVA were actually tran ...
to Korea to fight against the
United Nations Command, China also received North Korean refugees and students and provided economic aid during the war. Following the signing of the
Korean War Armistice in 1953, China, along with members of the
Eastern Bloc led by the
Soviet Union, provided extensive economic assistance to Pyongyang to support the reconstruction and economic development of North Korea. After the war China continued to station 300,000 troops in North Korea for five years. National Defense Minister and commander of the Chinese forces in Korea
Peng Dehuai urged Mao to remove Kim from power, but he was sidelined after he criticized the
Great Leap Forward.
1956 August Faction Incident
In 1956, at the 2nd Plenary Session of the
3rd Central Committee, leading pro-China Korean figures known as the
Yan'an faction
The Yan'an faction () were a group of pro-China communists in the North Korean government after the division of Korea following World War II.
The group was involved in a power struggle with pro-Soviet factions but Kim Il-sung was eventually ab ...
attempted to remove
Kim Il-sung from power with the support of
China and the
Soviet Union, but failed. This incident has become known as the
August Faction Incident
The August Faction Incident ( ko, 8월 종파 사건), officially called the "Second Arduous March", was an attempted removal of Kim Il-sung from power by leading North Korean figures from the Soviet-Korean faction and the Yan'an faction, wit ...
and forms the historical basis for North Korean fears of Chinese interference. At the same time, China tried to maintain good relations with North Korea because of the
Sino-Soviet split and
de-Stalinization
De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...
.
Deterioration in 1960s
The 1960s have been characterized as a "contentious" period in China-North Korean relations.
The
Korean Workers' Party
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of ...
criticized the
Cultural Revolution and described Mao Zedong as “an old fool who has gone out of his mind.”
The People's Republic of China recalled its Ambassador from Pyongyang in October 1966, and the
Red Guard
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...
criticized North Korea as being "
revisionist" in the ''Dongfanghong'' newspaper.
Tensions between Chinese Red Guards and North Korea led to some armed clashes in 1969.
In 1970, Chinese premier
Zhou Enlai traveled to Pyongyang to apologize for the treatment of North Korea by China.
In the 1970s relations with North Korea improved, although
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
urged political and economic reforms after the
Chinese economic reform
The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of Ch ...
and criticized the
North Korean cult of personality and provocative actions such as the
Rangoon bombing
The Rangoon bombing of 9 October 1983, was an assassination attempt against Chun Doo-hwan, the fifth president of South Korea, in Rangoon, Burma (present-day Yangon, Myanmar). The attempt was orchestrated by North Korea. Although Chun survive ...
.
Sino-North Korean Mutual Aid and Cooperation Friendship Treaty
In 1961, the two countries signed the
Sino-North Korean Mutual Aid and Cooperation Friendship Treaty
The China-DPRK Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, or The Sino-North Korean Mutual Aid and Cooperation Friendship Treaty is a treaty signed on 11 July 1961 between North Korea and China. The treaty is currently the only de ...
, whereby China pledged to immediately render military and other assistance by all means to its ally against any outside attack.
Post-Cold War era
In 1992, DPRK-PRC relations worsened after China increased trade relations with North Korea's rival
South Korea in the 1980s, culminating with the full normalization of
diplomatic relations in 1992. China subsequently stopped selling goods to North Korea at discounted "friendship prices" and providing interest-free loans, leading to the decline of DPRK-PRC trade in the 1990s, although it began subsidizing trade to North Korea again in order to prevent a refugee crisis in
Northeast China during the
North Korean famine.
On 1 January 2009, Chinese
paramount leader Hu Jintao and North Korean
leader
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...
Kim Jong-il exchanged greetings and declared 2009 as the "year of China–DPRK friendship," marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In March 2010, Kim visited
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
to meet with the
Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
In August 2012,
Jang Song-thaek
Jang Song-thaek (January or February 1946 – 12 December 2013) was a leading figure in the government of North Korea. He was married to Kim Kyong-hui, the only daughter of North Korean Premier Kim Il-sung and his first wife Kim Jong-suk, and ...
, uncle of
Kim Jong-un, met
Hu Jintao,
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
. It has since been widely reported that during their meeting, Jang told Hu Jintao he wished to replace Kim Jong-un with his brother
Kim Jong-nam
Kim Jong-nam (, ; 10 May 1971 – 13 February 2017) was the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. From roughly 1994 to 2001, he was considered the heir apparent to his father. He was thought to have fallen out of favour after em ...
. The meeting was allegedly taped by
Zhou Yongkang
Zhou Yongkang (born 3 December 1942) is a former senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was a member of the 17th Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's highest decision-making body, and the Secretary of the Central Politic ...
, then secretary of the
Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission
The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (), commonly referred to as ''Zhongyang Zhengfawei'' (中央政法委, literally "Central Poli-Legal Commission") in Chinese, is the organization under the Central Committee of the Chinese Commu ...
, who informed Kim Jong-un of the plot. In December 2013, Jang was executed for treason while in July 2014 Zhou was publicly put under
investigation for corruption and other crimes and was arrested in December 2014. These events are said to have marked the beginning of Kim Jong-un's distrust of China, since they had failed to inform him of a plot against his rule, while China took a dislike to Kim for executing their trusted intermediary.
On 5 May 2013, North Korea "grabbed," according to Jiang Yaxian, a Chinese government official, another Chinese fishing boat in a series of impounding Chinese fishing boats.
"North Korea was demanding 600,000 yuan ($97,600) for its safe return, along with its 16 crew."
According to a December 2014 article in ''
The New York Times'', relations had reached a low point.
In March 2016 the North Korean leader
Kim Jong-un visited a missile factory, which China strongly condemned, in a report by the state newspaper the ''
People's Daily'' revealed that the
North Korean politics causes instability on the
Korean Peninsula and is comparable to the
situation in Syria.
The
involvement of the United States in the peninsula's affairs in April–May 2017 presented a major issue for
China-American relations in organiser
Li Xiaolin
Li Xiaolin (; born 1 June 1961) is a Chinese businesswoman, currently serving as vice-president of the China Datang Corporation, a state-owned power generation enterprise. She is the former CEO of China Power International Development ( SEHK: ...
's preparations for Xi's visit to the US.
Nuclear weapons program
Since 2003, China has been a participant in
six-party talks
The six-party talks aimed to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
There was a series of meetings with six participating states in Beijing:
* China
* Japan
* North Kore ...
aimed at resolving the issue of
North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
China condemned the
2006 North Korean nuclear test
The 2006 North Korean nuclear test was the detonation of a nuclear device conducted by North Korea on October 9, 2006.
On October 3, 2006, North Korea announced its intention to conduct a nuclear test. The blast is generally estimated to have h ...
and approved
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 was adopted unanimously by the United Nations Security Council on October 14, 2006. The resolution, passed under Chapter VII, Article 41, of the UN Charter, imposes a series of economic and commerc ...
expanding
sanctions against North Korea. President
Hu Jintao sent Foreign Minister
Li Zhaoxing
Li Zhaoxing (; born 20 October 1940 in Jiaonan, Qingdao, Shandong) is a Chinese diplomat and politician. He served as the Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China from 2003 to 2007.
He graduated from Peking University in 1964. He wor ...
to Pyongyang to negotiate with
Kim Jong-il to halt the nuclear program. According to
U.S. National Security Council Director for Asian Affairs
Victor Cha, Hu Jintao and the Chinese government were genuinely outraged by the test because North Korea had led it to believe that it did not have nuclear weapons and ignored its advice against building them. China was also concerned that the
Liberal Democratic Party government of
Japan would respond by expanding its military.
The
Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China (; ''Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Wàijiāobù Bùzhǎng'') is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and one of the country's most imp ...
Yang Jiechi said that China "resolutely" opposed the
2013 North Korean nuclear test
On 12 February 2013, North Korean state media announced it had conducted an underground nuclear test, its third in seven years. A tremor that exhibited a nuclear bomb signature with an initial magnitude 4.9 (later revised to 5.1) was detected ...
conducted by North Korea.
The North Korean ambassador to China, Ji Jae-ryong, was personally informed of this position on 12 February 2013 in a meeting with Yang Jiechi.
In 2016, right after the
North Korean nuclear test in January tensions between China and North Korea have further grown, the reaction of China was, "We strongly urge the DPRK side to remain committed to its denuclearization commitment, and stop taking any actions that would make the situation worse," spokesperson
Hua Chunying
Hua Chunying (; born 24 April 1970) is a Chinese official and former diplomat serving as spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China since 2012 and as the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2021. H ...
said. On 24 February 2016 the United States and China introduced new sanctions against the North Korean regime conducted within the United Nations context.
The ''
Times of India'' reported that the then British Foreign Secretary
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Fo ...
saying at a dinner to mark India's independence that the Chinese control 90% of North Korea's trade and it is in the Chinese government's hands to exercise economic pressure on Kim Jong-un to achieve the diplomatic resolution needed to de-escalate tensions in the region.
The
United States has sanctioned many Chinese companies for violating North Korean sanctions, possibly aiding their nuclear program.
2017 decline in relations
Due to Chinese support for
sanctions against North Korea, relations in 2017 took a negative turn with
North Korean state media attacking China directly on at least three occasions.
In February 2017, after China halted imports of coal from North Korea, the
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, "this country
hina styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the US while defending its mean behaviour with such excuses that it was meant not to have a negative impact on the living of the people in the DPRK but to check its nuclear program".
In May 2017, KCNA made an unprecedented criticism of China, saying "a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China every day only to render the present bad situation tenser" and that "China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations". Accusing China of "big-power chauvinism", KCNA said Chinese support for
sanctions against North Korea were "an undisguised threat to an honest-minded neighboring country which has a long history and tradition of friendship" and that "The DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China".
In September 2017, KCNA slammed negative editorials by the ''
People's Daily'' and ''
Global Times
The ''Global Times'' () is a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the '' People's Daily'', commenting on international issues from a Chinese ultra-nationalistic perspective. The pub ...
'', saying "some media of China are seriously hurting the line and social system of the DPRK and threatening the DPRK" and calling them "the dirty excrement of the reactionaries of history" who "spouted such extremely ill-boding words".
In February 2018, the KCNA again criticized
Chinese media
The mass media in China consists primarily of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since the start of the 21st century, the Internet has also emerged as an important form of communication by media, and is under the direct supervisi ...
. According to KCNA,
China Central Television "seriously spoiled the atmosphere of the feast by publishing presumptuous comments of individual experts" and the ''Global Times'' was condemned for "the behavior of scattering ashes on other's happy day as they bring the denuclearization issue".
2018 improvement in relations
In March 2018, Supreme Leader
Kim Jong-un met with
Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, si ...
for the first time in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
.
Xinhua News Agency reported that the North Korean leader's trip lasted four days. Kim and his wife
Ri Sol-ju were met with honour guards and a lavish banquet hosted by Xi Jinping.
Xi was likewise received in the same-fashion when he visited
Pyongyang in June 2019 on two-day state visit, the first of such since
Hu Jintao's 2006 visit. In a North Korean
mass games that Xi attended, he was depicted inside a gold-framed circle surrounded by red — the same style previously used to depict
Kim Jong-un's father,
Kim Jong-il, and grandfather,
Kim Il-sung. It is also the first time a visit by a Chinese leader to North Korea has been called a "state visit" by the Chinese government.
In July 2019, North Korea was one of the 50 countries which signed a letter defending
Xinjiang re-education camps
The Xinjiang internment camps, officially called vocational education and training centers ( zh, 职业技能教育培训中心, Zhíyè jìnéng jiàoyù péixùn zhōngxīn) by the government of China, are internment camps operated by ...
and praising "China's remarkable achievements in the field of human rights in Xinjiang." North Korea has also defended China's position in the
2019–20 Hong Kong protests, with North Korean Foreign Minister
Ri Yong-ho saying that "North Korea fully supports the stand and measures of China to defend the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the country and safeguard the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, and concerns about foreign forces interference in Hong Kong issue."
During an official visit to North Korea in September 2019,
State Councilor Wang Yi said that "China will always stand on the road as comrades and friends" of North Korea.
In October 2019, the two countries celebrated 70 years of an "invincible friendship".
Human rights
In June 2020, North Korea was one of 53 countries that backed the
Hong Kong national security law at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
.
Border
China and North Korea share a 1,416 km long land border that corresponds almost entirely to the course of the
Yalu and
Tumen rivers.
The two countries signed a border treaty in 1962 to resolve their un-demarcated land border. China received 40% of the disputed crater lake on
Paektu Mountain
Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest moun ...
(known as Changbai Mountain in China), while North Korea held the remaining land.
In the 1950s and 1960s, many ethnic Koreans in Northeast China crossed the border into North Korea to escape economic hardship and
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...
in China. In recent years, the flow of
refugees has reversed, with a considerable number of North Koreans fleeing to China. Much of China's trade with North Korea goes through the port of
Dandong
Dandong (), formerly known as Andong, is a coastal prefecture-level city in southeastern Liaoning province, in the northeastern region of People's Republic of China.
It is the largest Chinese border city, facing Sinuiju, North Korea across the ...
on the Yalu River.
In February 1997, tourist access to the
bridge over the Tumen at Wonjong-Quanhe was allowed.
In May 2012, China and North Korea signed an agreement on the construction and management of the cross-border bridge between
Manpo
Manpo () is a city of northwestern Chagang Province, North Korea. As of 2008, it had an estimated population of 116,760. It looks across the border to the city of Ji'an, Jilin province, China.
History
Manp'o was incorporated as a city in Octobe ...
in the
Jagang Province
Chagang Province (Chagangdo; ) is a province in North Korea; it is bordered by China's Jilin and Liaoning provinces to the north, Ryanggang and South Hamgyong to the east, South Pyongan to the south, and North Pyongan to the west. Chagang was f ...
of North Korea and
Jian in China.
In 2015, a single rogue North Korean soldier killed four
ethnic Korean citizens of China who lived along the border of China with North Korea.
In April 2019, both countries opened the bridge connecting the cities of
Ji'an, Jilin
Ji'an (; formerly ) is a county-level city in the southwestern part of Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It is administered by the prefecture-level city of Tonghua and is the southernmost county-level division in the province. Ji'an ha ...
and
Manpo
Manpo () is a city of northwestern Chagang Province, North Korea. As of 2008, it had an estimated population of 116,760. It looks across the border to the city of Ji'an, Jilin province, China.
History
Manp'o was incorporated as a city in Octobe ...
after three years of construction.
Defectors
Many North Korean defectors travel through their 880-mile-long border with China rather than through the de facto Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to reach South Korea.
In 1982, China joined both the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocols Relating to the Status of Refugees. The Chinese government does not have refugee-related laws relying instead on the Refugee Convention and Protocols to make decisions on refugee cases. China’s membership in these two organizations requires them to provide personal rights (economic and social rights presented in the CSR and PRSR) to any refugee entering their borders. They are also a member of the UN Human Rights Council and accept many refugees held in countries such as Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Japan, and Australia.
Unlike refugees from these countries, China does not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees but rather classifies them as ‘economic refugees’ referring to their immigration due to food and financial struggles.
Under the Refugee Conventions and Protocols, this would not classify North Korean defectors as refugees, but rather, border crossers, however, there is much debate over this. The Chinese government will, on rare occasions, allow North Korean Defectors to pass through China into a third country or, most commonly, force them to return back to North Korea.
In 1986 China and North Korea intensified their monitoring of illegal border crossers, or North Korean defectors through the Mutual Cooperation Protocols for the National Security and Maintenance of Social Order in the Border Regions. This required China to detain North Korean defectors and provide the North Korean government with a list of any. Since then, China has classified North Korean defectors as illegal border crossers, or criminals, forcing them to return back to North Korea. However, the issue here is that repatriating defectors as illegal border crossers defies the Forced Repatriation Prohibition Principle (part of international law according to South Korean legal experts).
Tensions regarding migrants crossing the Sino-North Korean border flared up in 2002 with a string of incidents of North Korean defectors reaching Spanish, Japanese, German, American, Canadian, and South Korean consulates in the Chinese city of Shenyang and embassies in the capital of Beijing. Incidents in which Chinese state forces physically dragged defectors who were seeking asylum from the front steps of Japanese and South Korean consulates received much international media attention and caused diplomatic rifts between involved countries. In one such case, a North Korean defector father and his 13-year-old son were separated as Chinese police pushed through a human wall of South Korean diplomats in an attempt to seize the migrants, ending in the father’s capture and son’s placement within the South Korean embassy in Beijing. In most cases of seizure, defectors are taken into custody by Chinese forces in order to be repatriated back to North Korea. Once in North Korea, most defectors are placed in penal camps which are known to be relatively liberal but still deadly.
Economic relations
China's economic assistance to North Korea accounts for about half of all Chinese foreign aid.
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
provides the aid directly to
Pyongyang, thereby enabling it to bypass the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
.
During
the period of severe food shortage between 1996 and 1998, Beijing provided unconditional food aid to North Korea.
Trade
China is North Korea's largest trade partner, while North Korea itself ranks relatively low as a source of imports to China. North Korea is dependent on trade and aid from China, although international sanctions against North Korea have decreased overall official volume of trade.
Between 2000 and 2015, trade between the two countries grew over ten-fold, reaching a peak of $6.86 billion in 2014.
China is a major investor in North Korea's mining and metallurgical industries including
steel and
iron,
copper,
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dead ...
,
copper, and
rare-earth mineral
A rare-earth mineral contains one or more rare-earth elements as major metal constituents. Rare-earth minerals are usually found in association with alkaline to peralkaline igneous complexes, in pegmatites associated with alkaline magmas and in ...
s. PRC-DPRK trade also provides an important source of revenue to
Jilin and
Liaoning Provinces, which have suffered
deindustrialization since the 1970s. In return, North Korea is dependent on China for imports of food and fuel, particularly since the end of South Korea's
Sunshine Policy
The Sunshine Policy () is the theoretical basis for South Korea's foreign policy towards North Korea. Its official title is The Reconciliation and Cooperation Policy Towards the North (), and it is also known as The Operational Policy Towards the ...
in 2008.
In February 2017, China restricted all coal imports from North Korea until 2018. In 2016, coal
briquettes
A briquette (; also spelled briquet) is a compressed block of coal dust or other combustible biomass material (e.g. charcoal, sawdust, wood chips, peat, or paper) used for fuel and kindling to start a fire. The term derives from the French word ' ...
had been the single largest good exported by North Korea, accounting for 46% of its trade with China. China has said this was in line with the UN sanctions against North Korea, but it is speculated that this occurred because of a mix of events, including recent nuclear tests, the suspected
assassination of Kim Jong-nam
On 13 February 2017, the eldest son of Kim Jong-il and half-brother of Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-nam, was attacked with the nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. He had been exiled from North Korea in 2003 and had been ...
, brother of ruler
Kim Jong-un, and pressure on China from the rest of the world and especially the United States. However, despite this, North Korea has been reported to evade sanctions and continue to sell coal to China through a loophole. On 28 September 2017, in response to new UN Security Council sanctions over a
nuclear test earlier in the month, China ordered all North Korean companies operating in China to cease operations within 120 days.
By January 2018 customs statistics showed that trade between the two countries had fallen to a historic low, although volume again increased by 15.4% to $1.25 billion in the first half of 2019. China closed its border in late January 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, and trade between the two countries nearly halted, with North Korean imports from and exports to China both down by over 90% year-over-year in March.
In 2020, trade fell by more than 80% due to Covid-19 pandemic. Chinese-North Korean trade was severely affected by the pandemic in 2020 onwards. Chinese-North Korean trade equaled 318 million USD in 2021, compared to the 539 million USD in 2020 and 2.78 billion USD in 2019. Scholars have hinted that the prolonged Covid-19 restrictions from both North Korea and China have aided in the rapid decrease of trade revenue. Furthermore, there has been a lack of raw materials in North Korea, leading to less work, and thus less workers. This lack of raw materials can be attributed to China’s lockdowns and restrictions during Covid-19. North Korea, due to their Enterprise Law in 2013 and 2015 allowed companies more freedom to control their own production, leading to an influx in Chinese raw materials and boosting bilateral trade.
North Korea had been one of the first countries to close their borders to China in order to avoid the virus, yet China is working to repair its ties with North Korea regardless. South Korea’s central bank, the Bank of Korea, approximates that North Korea’s economy shrank by around 4.5 percent. China and North Korea maintained informal trade, with China violating UN sanctions on North Korea. These sanctions include the illicit ship to ship transfers of 1.6 million barrels of refined oil to North Korea although the UN imposed a limit of 5,000 barrels per year. In September 2021, reports indicated that the Chinese government continued to smuggle imports of North Korean coal due to energy shortage issues throughout China. China has attempted to decrease the severity of sanctions against North Korean goods to address trade issues by appealing to the United Nations Security Council in November of the same year.
Banking
On 7 May 2013,
Bank of China
The Bank of China (BOC; ) is a Chinese majority state-owned commercial bank headquartered in Beijing and the fourth largest bank in the world.
The Bank of China was founded in 1912 by the Republican government as China's central bank, repl ...
, China's biggest foreign exchange bank, joined other international banks in closing the accounts of North Korea's
Foreign Trade Bank, its main foreign exchange bank. Although neither entity stated reasons for the closure, it is widely assumed that it was in response to sanctions placed against Bank of China by the United States for its alleged assistance in financing the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
Investments
In 2012, a $45 million investment by China's Haicheng Xiyang Group into an iron-ore powder processing plant failed under what the Chinese called "a nightmare". On 21 February 2016 China quietly ended financial support of North Korea without any media publicity. It is reported to be due to the fallout of relations between the two governments.
In July 2019, ''
Washington Post'' reported that
Huawei "secretly helped" North Korea to build and maintain its commercial wireless network in conjunction with
Chinese state-owned enterprise Panda International Information Technology Co.
Military relations
China assisted North Korea during the
Korean War (1950–53) against
South Korean and
UN forces on the Korean peninsula. Although China itself remained neutral, three million Chinese soldiers participated in the conflict as part of the
People's Volunteer Army fighting alongside the
Korean People's Army. As many as 180,000 were killed.
Since the end of the Korean War, the two states have closely cooperated in security and defense issues. In 1975,
Kim Il-sung visited Beijing in a failed attempt to solicit support from China for a military invasion of South Korea. On 23 November 2009, Chinese Defense Minister
Liang Guanglie
Liang Guanglie (, also spelled as Liang Kuang-lieh; born December 1940 in Santai, Mianyang, Sichuan) is a retired general and former Minister for National Defense in the People's Republic of China.
Life and career
Liang joined the army in J ...
visited Pyongyang, the first defense chief to visit since 2006.
In August 2019, director of the
General Political Bureau of the KPA Kim Su Gil visited Beijing to meet with
Zhang Youxia
Zhang Youxia (; born July 1950) is a general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China and currently the second-ranked Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Central Military Commission (CMC). He previously served as Head ...
. Zhang told Kim that the delegation's visit as was of “crucial significance in bilateral exchange.“
Inter-visits by leaders
In 1978, the DPRK celebrated the 30th anniversary of the republic, in which
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
attended in his official capacities as the
First Vice Premier of the
State Council and the
Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
The Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party () was the second-highest rank after the Chairman within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1956 to 1982. The position was phased out after 1982 in order to remove the ...
.
See also
*
Korea Bay
The Korea Bay, sometimes the West Korea Bay (; ; or ), is a bight and the northern extension of the Yellow Sea, between the southeastern coastline of China's Liaoning province and the western coastline of North Korea's North Pyongan, South ...
*
Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge
The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, or China–North Korea Friendship Bridge, is a bridge across the Yalu or Amnok River on the China–North Korea border. It connects the cities of Dandong in China and Sinuiju of North Korea, by railway and roa ...
*
List of ambassadors of China to North Korea
*
Yalu River
The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
References
Further reading
* Gao, Bo
''China's Economic Engagement in North Korea''.. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.
* Jung, Heon Joo, and Timothy S. Rich. "Why invest in North Korea? Chinese foreign direct investment in North Korea and its implications." ''The Pacific Review'' 29.3 (2016): 307–330
online* Kim, Jih-Un. "Inflated Hope, Unchanged Reality: China's Response to North Korea's Third Nuclear Test." ''Asian Perspective'' 39.1 (2015): 27–46
online* Kim, Min-hyung. "Why provoke? The Sino-US competition in East Asia and North Korea's strategic choice." ''Journal of Strategic Studies'' 39.7 (2016): 979–998.
* Nanto, Dick K., and Mark E. Manyin. "China-North Korea Relations." ''North Korean Review'' (2011): 94–101
online* Rozman, Gilbert. " North Korea's place in Sino-Russian relations and identities." in ''International Relations and Asia's Northern Tier'' (Palgrave, Singapore, 2018) pp. 301–314.
* Shin, Jong-Ho. "Evaluation of North Korea-China Summit and Its Implications on the Korean Peninsula." (2018)
online* Yin, Chengzhi (2022). "
Logic of Choice: China's Binding Strategies toward North Korea, 1965–1970". ''Security Studies''.
External links
Jayshree Bajoria and Beina Xu (2013), "The China-North Korea Relationship," Council on Foreign Relations."China-North Korea Relations," Wilson Center Digital Archive.Dick K. Nanto and Mark E. Manyin (2010),"China-North Korea Relations," Congressional Research Service
Shen Zhihua (2008), "Alliance of 'Tooth and Lips' or Marriage of Convenience?," US-Korea Institute at SAIS WPS 08-09.
''DPRK–China Friendship Goes Down Century after Century''
at Naenara
Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. It was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. The portal's categories include politics, tourism, music, foreign trade, arts, press, information technolog ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:China-North Korea relations
Korea, North
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) an ...
Bilateral relations of North Korea
North Korea