China has issued a blunt warning to North Korea, telling the increasingly isolated nation to stop provoking other countries.

The warning from Pyongyang’s staunchest ally follows a United Nations Security Council resolution Sunday that imposed severe new sanctions on North Korea for its continued intercontinental ballistic missile testing and violations of UN resolutions.

The resolution, passed unanimously, targets North Korea’s primary exports – including coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood – as well as banking and joint ventures with foreign companies.

The sanctions are expected to slash North Korea’s annual export revenue of US$3 billion (A$3.8 billion) by more than a third, according to a statement from US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

The United Nations Security Council just voted 15-0 to sanction North Korea. China and Russia voted with us. Very big financial impact!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2017

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday said that while the sanctions were “necessary” after Pyongyang’s missile tests in July, only negotiations would resolve the conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

“Our purpose is to bring all parties involved in the nuclear issue back to the negotiating table … to realise the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” Wang said on the sidelines of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in Manila.

“It is not easy, but it is a direction that we need to work together towards,” he said. “Only dialogue and negotiations are the correct way to address the Korean Peninsula issue.”

In a meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, Wang said he told his counterpart “not to violate the UN decision or provoke the international community’s goodwill by conducting missile launches or nuclear tests”.

Ri re-affirmed Pyongyang’s position on the matter during the meeting, Wang said.

“I don’t think that matters much,” he added. “What really matters is that the foreign minister of North Korea is here so he has the chance to listen to the views of various parties regarding the situation on the Korean Peninsula.”

I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

…they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

China’s warning comes after US President Donald Trump last month slammed Beijing over its failure to intervene in the Korean tensions.

– With AAP