China said Tuesday that it will "strictly" implement a new U.N. resolution slapping new sanctions on North Korea, as the U.N. Security Council is set to approve the resolution.

"China will strictly follow it if the U.N. resolution is passed," China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters during a regular press briefing.

In New York Tuesday the U.N. Security Council is expected to pass a new resolution aimed at punishing North Korea for conducting its fourth nuclear test and firing off a long-range rocket. Both moves violated previous U.N. resolutions.

Winning China's cooperation is key to ensuring the effectiveness of U.N. sanctions against North Korea because China accounts for nearly 90 percent of the North's foreign trade.

Still, China is unlikely to put crippling sanctions on North Korea because a sudden collapse of the regime could spark a refugee crisis at its border and lead to a pro-U.S., democratic Korea on its doorstep, analysts say.(Yonhap)