China exported around 587 tons of refined oil to North Korea in March, according to data that the country provided to a UN sanctions committee for the first time in six months.

According to the latest update on the UN Security Council webpage on its sanctions committee on North Korea, Beijing supplied Pyongyang with 4,893 barrels, equivalent to 587.4 tons, in March.

Since its last report in September last year, China had skipped disclosing its monthly oil exports.

The March figure represents about 1 percent of the volume of refined oil it can supply to the North in a year.

Adopted in 2017 following the North's launch of a long-range missile, the UN Security Council's Resolution 2397 put a ceiling on the annual amount of refined oil that could be offered or sold to North Korea at 500,000 barrels, which is the equivalent of somen 60,000-65,000 tons. (Yonhap)