North Korea's trade growth with China slows sharply in 2012

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's trade with its biggest ally and business partner China barely grew in 2012 compared to a year earlier as growth in the world's second-biggest economy slowed, according to South Korean calculations.

Trade between the two countries rose an annual 5.4 percent in 2012 to a total of $5.93 billion (3.95 billion pounds), compared with 62.4 percent growth in 2011, according to a report released on Thursday by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).