China exported 1,536 tons of refined oil to North Korea in May, according to its monthly report to a UN sanctions committee Thursday.

The May figure brought China's cumulative supply of refined oil products to the North to 5,730 tons this year, the report posted on the website of the sanctions committee on North Korea showed.

The cumulative figure is almost on a par with the 5,920 tons that China supplied to the North during the same period a year earlier.

The amount represents about one-fourth of the 22,183 tons of refined oil Russia had supplied to the North during the Jan.-May period.

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 some 60,000-65,000 tons. (Yonhap)