In this Sept. 26, 2022 file photo, a cargo train crosses the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge over the Amnok River from the Chinese border city of Dandong toward North Korea's border city of Sinuiju at 7:43 a.m. Yonhap

North Korea's trade with China dropped 5 percent on-month in May due to a sharp decline in Pyongyang's exports, Chinese customs data showed Monday.

North Korea's trade volume with China stood at $189.57 million in May, down from $199.42 million in April, according to the data from China's General Administration of Customs.

Pyongyang's imports from China totaled $165.63 million in May, slightly down from $165.78 million the previous month, while its exports sharply dropped 30 percent on-month to $23.94 million.

It remains unclear why North Korea's exports to China shrank last month.

During the January-May period, cumulative trade between the two countries stood at some $874.18 million, up 174 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.

Cargo train operations between the Chinese border city of Dandong and the North's Sinuiju resumed in September last year after a five-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Yonhap)