Japan Resumes Scallop Exports to China

Jiji Press

19:01 JST, November 7, 2025

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan has resumed exports of scallops to China, marking the first shipment since Beijing banned all imports of Japanese fishery products in August 2023, fisheries minister Norikazu Suzuki said Friday.

About 6 tons of frozen Japanese scallops have been shipped to the Chinese market, Suzuki told a press conference.

The resumption followed an agreement announced in May between the Japanese and Chinese governments on procedures for restarting exports.

China banned imports of Japanese fishery products following Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s release into the sea of treated water from its disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

According to the fisheries ministry, frozen scallops from Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, were shipped to China on Wednesday. About 600 kilograms of salted sea cucumbers from Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, are scheduled for delivery on Monday.

Regarding the registration of facilities required for exports, Suzuki said, “We need to urge the Chinese side to promptly reregister the remaining facilities,” noting that only three of 697 applications have been approved.

In 2022, before the tritium-containing treated water was released, scallops accounted for about half of Japan’s total export value of edible fishery products to China. Japan has shifted to other destinations for scallop exports, but it is still pinning hopes on a recovery of shipments to China.

Still, China continues to restrict imports of fishery products from 10 prefectures, including Fukushima, and also bans imports of beef from Japan.

“We will urge [China] to respond based on scientific grounds,” Suzuki emphasized.