China's trade with North Korea fell 13 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, as an indication of Beijing's frayed ties with Pyongyang.

Beijing's trade with Pyongyang reached $1.1 billion in the January-March period, down from $1.27 billion in the same period last year, according to data by the Korea International Trade Association. It posted a trade surplus of $17.7 million.

China's exports to North Korea came in at $563 million in the first quarter, down 15.6 percent from a year earlier. Beijing's imports from its neighbor reported a 9.8 percent on-year fall to reach $545 million in the cited period.

China's trade with North Korea reached $6.36 billion in 2014, down 2.76 percent from a year earlier and the first yearly decline since 2009. The downward trend is seen as being extended into this year, the data showed.

The data came as China's relations with North Korea have been strained following the North's third nuclear test in February 2013.

But few analysts said that Beijing, North Korea's last-remaining patron, will cut off its economic lifeline to Pyongyang.

China made no crude oil shipments to China in the first quarter, following no official oil deliveries in 2014, the data showed.

China supplies nearly all of the North's energy needs such as crude oil, diesel and jet fuel, but there have been no reported oil shipments to Pyongyang since last year.

But there have been no reports of a serious fuel shortage in the North, which analysts said indicates that China has been providing crude oil to North Korea in the form of grant aid so that such shipments have not been recorded officially. (Yonhap)