China denied on Thursday that its economic and trade exchanges with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has violated a United Nations (UN) resolution.

At a regular press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang was asked to comment on a report by Yonhap news of the Republic of Korea quoted by China Daily saying Pyongyang announced two islets adjacent to China's northernmost port city Dandong would be developed by Chinese enterprises as a free trade area.

"This project is purely normal economic and trade contact between the two countries. It does not go against the UN relevant resolution of sanction on the DPRK," he said.

The UN Security Council last June adopted a resolution imposing tougher sanctions on the DPRK, including a tighter arms embargo and new financial restrictions, after the DPRK announced a successful nuclear test on May 25, the second since 2006.

The resolution also underlined that "measures imposed by this resolution are not intended to have adverse humanitarian consequences for the civilian population of the DPRK."