US says China assisting North Korean missile programme

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has claimed that China may have supported North Korea's missile programme through "trade and technology exchanges".

"I'm sure there's been some help coming from China. I don't know, you know, the exact extent of that," Panetta told members of the House Armed Services Committee when asked whether China had been supporting North Korea's missile program through "trade and technology exchanges".

Last week, North Korea failed its attempt to launch a rocket into the orbit, deemed by the international community as missile testing.

Under United Nations Security Council resolutions from 2006 and 2009, states, including China, are banned from helping North Korea with its ballistic missile programme, its nuclear activities as well as supplying heavy weapons.

While China has denied helping North Korea with its project, western military experts said a modern missile transporter seen in a military parade was of Chinese design and possibly origin.