China to Work Toward Easing Japanese Seafood Import Ban Gradually

Both countries reached a deal over the release of wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi power plant into the ocean.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to the media at the prime minister's office after a telephone conversation with International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi, in Tokyo on Sept. 20, 2024. STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images

China has said it will reconsider its ban on seafood imported from Japan as the two countries have reached an agreement over the discharge of treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.

According to the new agreement announced on Sept. 20, Japan would expand its long-term international monitoring measures under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) framework and ensure that all stakeholder countries, including China, can conduct independent sampling and interlaboratory comparisons.