China imposes de facto ban on Japanese seafood imports amid anger over Fukushima water release plan

“Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, China’s customs have attached great importance to the issue of radioactive contamination of Japanese food imported to China. It has closely monitored the relevant measures taken by the Japanese government, continued to assess the risk and responded promptly,” the customs agency said on Friday.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Friday also said Hong Kong would consider banning seafood and agricultural products from “high-risk regions” in Japan.

“For food imports from other areas, we will strengthen monitoring to ensure food safety,” he added during a visit to Guiyang, Guizhou province.

Japan is mainland China’s fifth-largest trade partner, but the new arrangements could greatly slow the import process of sea products, potentially resulting in a de facto ban.

Its agricultural, forestry, fishery and food exports rose by 14.3 per cent from a year earlier to 1.4148 trillion yen (US$9.8 billion) last year, according to Japanese government data.

Aquatic product exports reported significant growth last year, with scallop shipments alone rising by 10.5 per cent, year on year.

According to Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in February, the export value of Japanese agricultural, forestry and food products to mainland China in 2022 reached 278.3 billion yen.

Seafood, such as scallops, and Japanese sake are widely popular in the Chinese market.

Mainland China is believed to have significantly reduced its seafood imports from Japan over the past decade, despite its overseas sea product purchases growing by 35 per cent to US$191.3 billion last year, according to data from the International Trade Centre. The import volume also rose by 21 per cent, the data showed.

Ecuador is mainland China’s top supplier of seafood imports, followed by Russia, Vietnam, India, Canada and the United States.