Reuters reports that China's U.N Ambassador Liu Jieyi urged North Korea to "stop taking actions that are wrong" and called on all parties to "seriously consider" Beijing's proposal for a joint suspension of Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear programs and military drills by the United States and South Korea. "We strongly urge (North Korea) ... stop taking actions that are wrong, deteriorating the situation and not in line with its own interests either and truly return to the track of resolving the issue through dialogue," Liu told the U.N. Security Council. North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday, which it said was an advanced hydrogen bomb for a long-range missile, prompting global condemnation and drawing a warning of a "massive" military response from the United States if it or its allies were threatened.

Wall Street Journal comments, President Donald Trump's stern warning that the U.S. may halt trade with countries doing business with North Korea was seen as a direct shot at China, the regime's biggest trading partner. But China is America's largest single trading partner as well, highlighting how difficult it would be for the Trump administration to follow through on its threat. North Korea sent 83% of its exports, valued at about $2.34 billion, to China in 2015, consisting of such items as coal briquettes, according to data compiled by MIT's Observatory of Economic Complexity. Going the other way, China was the source of about 85% of North Korea's imports, such as refined petroleum, synthetic fabric, delivery trucks, soybean oil and broadcasting equipment, the data show. China's goods and services trade with the U.S., meanwhile, totaled nearly $650 billion in 2016, figures from the U.S. Trade Representative's office show. China produced more than one-fifth of the total goods the U.S. imports, from cellphones and computers to furniture and footwear. After Canada and Mexico, China is the U.S.'s third-largest goods export market, which totaled nearly $170 billion in 2016. Top American exports to China include planes and helicopters. Because the trade volume is so heavy, analysts say severely restricting trade with China would be nearly impossible to implement without wreaking havoc on the U.S. economy, leading some analysts to dismiss the threat as not credible...If those imports were suddenly cut off or severely restricted, businesses would have to scramble to find alternate suppliers, and could face higher costs as well. American exporters and multinational corporations -- such as farmers, aerospace companies, car makers and Hollywood movie studios -- could be shut out of one of the world's biggest markets.