Hosts China revitalised their hopes of winning the East Asian Cup as goals in either half from Yu Dabao and Wang Yongpo secured a 2-0 victory over North Korea.
North Korea came into the game off the back of a comeback victory over Japan while China had succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of South Korea.
Yu and Wang were on target as Alain Perrin's men moved second in the table ahead of their final match against bottom side Japan.
After a scrappy opening half hour, China took the lead when Sun Ke diverted a deep delivery back across goal for Yu to fire home.
It was the forward's fifth international goal of 2015 and China dimmed hopes of another North Korea fightback when Yu was felled inside the area early in the second half.
Wang converted from the spot to get China off the mark in the competition, Perrin's men now firmly in with a shout of winning the competition.
