Japan to Resume Marine Product Exports to China; Fukushima, 9 Other Prefectures Still Under Restrictions (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:16 JST, May 30, 2025ensp;(updated at 17:00 JST, May 30)

The government announced on Friday that Japan and China have reached an agreement on procedures for resuming exports of Japanese marine products from 37 of 47 prefectures. Exports are expected to resume within few months following procedures such as the re-registration of Japanese suppliers.

China banned imports of Japanese marine products in August 2023 after treated water began to be released from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean.

“The resumption of marine product exports to China, which is vital for Japan, marks a significant milestone,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference following a Cabinet meeting.

However, exports from Tokyo and nine other prefectures — including Ibaraki and Fukushima, which lie along the Pacific coast — which China had banned even before the release of treated water, are still impacted at this time. Hayashi said, “We will keep demanding that China abandon the regulation.”

Agreement on the procedures for resuming exports was reached at a meeting of bureau-chief-level officials held in Beijing on Wednesday. Re-registration processes will be available for Japanese production and processing facilities that were previously approved before the release of treated water. The submission of a tritium inspection certificate will now be required when resuming exports to confirm safety.

China strongly protested the treated water release, calling it “nuclear-contaminated water.” However, China and Japan both agreed to resolve the issue through discussions at the Japan-China summit held in November 2023. In September last year, China agreed to resume imports of marine products on the condition that the monitoring of seawater and other substances would be expanded.

China, with the participation of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has conducted sampling and analysis of seawater on multiple occasions, repeatedly confirming that there have not been any safety concerns.

Scallops and sea cucumbers are the main marine products that used to be exported to China.

“Sea cucumbers and other items are in high demand in the Chinese market,” Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said at a press conference. “We would like to work toward a swift and smooth resumption of exports through cooperation between the public and private sectors.”