A Chinese official said Friday that China may resume the imports of Japanese seafood that it banned from Japan in 2023 over concerns about Japan’s discharge of somewhat radioactive waste from the broken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean. China claimed that their discussions this week made” large improvement,” but they did not confirm a consensus with Japan regarding the issue, which has been a significant political and diplomatic source of tension. After Japanese and Chinese leaders met in Beijing, according to Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the goods will begin after the document is finished. Seafood is a significant trade material for Japan, and resuming its import to China is a significant milestone, Koizumi said. Takeshi Iwaya, the country’s foreign minister, praised the move, saying,” It will be a huge first step that will help Japan and China resolve a number of bilateral issues,” including territorial disputes, trade disputes, and military background. However, officials said they will continue to push for lifting China’s moratorium on land and fisheries products from 10 Chinese prefectures, including Fukushima, and that it is still in effect. The two parties held” a fresh round of professional exchanges on the security issues of Chinese aquatic products… and achieved significant progress,” according to China’s General Administration of Customs, which released a statement on Friday. China halted imports of Chinese shrimp because it claimed the launch of the treated and diluted but also slightly radioactive waste would threaten the angling industry and coastal areas in eastern China. Leaders in Japan have stated that the waste will be less hazardous than international standards and have no negative effects on the environment. They claim that the wastewater may be released to allow for the nuclear plant’s remediation and to stop unintended leaks. Tokyo and Beijing have been discussing the subject for three rounds of discussions since March until a consensus on the “technical requirements” that must be met for Chinese shrimp exports to China to resume, according to a statement from Japan’s Foreign Ministry. How much might it get before the actual resumed? Hong Kong was the next-largest export market for Chinese shellfish, accounting for more than one-fifth of its seafood exports. Earlier, mainland China was the biggest international market for it. Although the impact on overall trade was minor because seafood exports account for only a small portion of Japan’s entire exports, the ban dealt a big blow to the fishery industry. The Chinese government established an emergency relief fund for Chinese exporters, particularly shrimp growers, and has searched for alternate overseas markets. Fukushima Daiichi grow operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings has stated that it will pay reparations to Chinese business owners in appropriate amounts for losses caused by trade bans. Why is the waste being treated and released into the ocean? Three reactors at the nuclear grow were severely damaged when the earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan in 2011 caused meltdowns in them. Since then, the fluids used to cool the reactor cores has been accumulating, and authorities claim the enormous stockpile is preventing the recovery of the page. Before Japan started releasing the wastewater into the water in August 2023, the waste was treated and strongly diluted with water to minimize radon as much as possible. Fumio Kishida, the then prime minister, stated in September that the two countries had reached” a certain level of mutual knowledge” regarding China’s intention to ease the trade restrictions and visit the International Atomic Energy Agency’s expanded surveillance of waste releases. Both inside and outside Japan protested the original release of effluent. Chinese fishing organizations expressed concern that it would more deteriorate the status of their seafood. Problems were also raised by groups in China and South Korea.
