UPDATE 2 (2014-1-21): According to Yonhap:
The number of North Korean visitors to China rose about 11 percent on-year to top 200,000 for the first time in 2013, Chinese government data showed Tuesday, in the latest sign that the flow of people between the allies was unaffected by geopolitical tensions.
About 206,600 North Koreans traveled to China last year, compared with 186,000 in 2012, the data from China’s National Tourism Administration showed.
It was the first time that the annual number of North Korean tourists to China exceeded 200,000 since the Chinese tourism administration began releasing data in 2005.
NK News reports additional data:
93,300 work visas were given to North Korean citizens[.]
Goeffrey See comments that part of the increase can be explained by repeat travelers.
Read the full story here:
N. Korean tourists to China rise 11 pct in 2013
Yonhap
2014-1-21
Work visas for North Koreans going to China up 17.2%
NK News
Oliver Hoffman
2014-1-21
UPDATE 1 (2013-7-18): According to the Japan Times:
The overall number of visitors to China dropped 5.2 percent to 12.75 million in the six-month period.
But North Korean visitors to China increased 11.7 percent to 99,100, the highest since 2005 on a first-half basis.
Nearly half of the North Koreans came to China to work, mainly at factories and restaurants. These North Koreans are low-cost labor for China, while the data signal that North Korea continues to actively use its manpower to earn foreign currency.
Read More here:
China sees 26% fewer Japanese visitors in first half but North Korean arrivals up by 12%
Japan Times
2013-7-18
ORIGINAL POST (2013-4-26): Number of DPRK visitors to China up 14% in first quarter 2013. According to Yonhap:
About 45,800 North Koreans traveled to China, the North’s closest ally, in the January-March period, compared with 40,200 recorded in the same period in 2012, according to the report by the Washington-based Voice of America (VOA), which cited data from China.
The increase is seen as showing that North Korea-China relations have not been disturbed by China’s recent shift to take an active role in implementing the U.N. sanctions against the North, adopted following the country’s December rocket launch and its third nuclear test on Feb. 12.
The majority of the North Korean travelers to China, 48.3 percent, crossed the border to work in the world’s second-biggest economy and 25.8 percent went there for business purposes, according to the report. Only 1.5 percent were on trips to China for tourism.
Out of the total visitors, 78 percent were male North Koreans while 44.5 percent of the total were aged between 45 and 64.
Read the full story here:
Number of N. Korean visitors to China up 14 pct in Q1
Yonhap
2013-4-26
