China has agreed to lift a ban on most seafood imports from Japan, following a two-year pause stemming from concerns over the release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant.
BBC News reports that as of June 29, China plans to "conditionally resume" seafood imports from 37 of Japan's 47 prefectures, after long-term monitoring of contaminated wastewater from Fukushima showed no abnormalities. Three reactors at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant melted down in 2011 after getting flooded by a tsunami, leading to one of the worst nuclear disasters since Chernobyl. In the ensuing years, more than a million metric tons of wastewater accumulated in the flooded reactors, with Japan getting approval to start treating and discharging the wastewater into the ocean in 2023, as part of a gradual process expected to take up to 30 years.
China was initially critical of the decision to discharge the wastewater, citing concerns over the potential environmental impacts. Prior to the two-year ban, China was Japan's largest market for seafood, accounting for nearly a quarter of Japan's exports in the sector. In a statement to BBC News, Japan's government praised China's decision to partially lift the ban as a "positive move."
