N. Korea-China expo inks trade deals worth US$1.6 bln

BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korean companies participating in an annual trade fair with China signed a total of 93 preliminary deals worth US$1.6 billion at the event, China's state media reported Tuesday.

North Korea and its economic lifeline, China, wrapped up the trade expo, the second of its kind, on Monday in the Chinese border city of Dandong with some 130 North Korean firms attending the five-day exhibition.

The North Korea-China Economic, Trade, Culture and Tourism Expo came as China has been deepening its economic ties with the North even though Beijing appears to have become increasingly frustrated with Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

During the trade fair, preliminary investment deals worth $510 million and export deals worth $1.09 billion were signed, the official China News Service reported.

North Korea and China held the inaugural trade fair last year, with $1.26 billion worth of preliminary deals signed.

In the first eight months of this year, two-way trade between North Korea and China stood at $4.09 billion, compared with $4.1 billion for the same period last year, South Korean government data showed.

kdh@yna.co.kr

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