"Words are one thing while actions are another. You can see in the past year that Pyongyang has been cautious in its deeds. All the parties involved know drastic action will trigger results that nobody can bear."

Yu said the resolution is quite a moderate one. "It has warned the DPRK to abstain from actions threatening regional security, yet avoided comprehensive sanctions affecting normal economic development of the country.

"But it is wrong to say it has a very limited effect. Satellites are one of Pyongyang's core concerns, and it cares deeply about global attitudes toward its launches."

Speaking after the council vote, Li Baodong, China's permanent representative to the UN, said sanctions and resolutions alone won't work and must "be supplemented by diplomatic efforts through teamwork".

US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said the US had "particularly good cooperation with China in this regard", and with other council members, to reach agreement on the resolution.

Washington has long pursued a resolution imposing new sanctions on Pyongyang, while Beijing was worried it would further irritate the DPRK.

The resolution finally just expanded the UN blacklist.

China called the latest resolution "generally balanced".

"UN Security Council Resolution 2087 not only shows the stance of the international community on the DPRK's satellite launch, it also delivers some positive information, including calling for a peaceful solution to the peninsula issue through dialogue and negotiation as well as the resumption of the Six-Party Talks," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

Ted Galen Carpenter, a defense and foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute in Washington, said China fulfilled its responsibility in handling a thorny global issue.

"It also shows that Beijing is becoming more proactive —and constructive — in dealing with important regional and global security issues."

"Given China's growing economic and diplomatic influence, such a development is not surprising, and we should expect similar leadership initiatives in other matters in the future."

Jonathan Pollack, a foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said that despite unity on this latest resolution, China and the other UN Security Council members should consider if a piecemeal, step-by-step approach can persuade Pyongyang "to alter its nuclear course".

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