TOKYO - The Japanese and Chinese governments are making arrangements to bring into effect soon a pact that would pave the way for the restart of Japanese beef shipments to China for the first time in 24 years, a diplomatic source said on July 11.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who is visiting Japan to attend the World Exposition in Osaka, held talks with Mr Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, at which the issue was expected to be discussed.

The cooperation agreement on animal health and quarantine was signed in November 2019 as a step toward resuming beef shipments, which were halted following the outbreak of mad cow disease in Japan in 2001.

But the pact did not come into force as subsequent negotiations stalled amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The latest development regarding beef shipments follows the lifting by China in June of its blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports, introduced in 2023 after Japan began releasing treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.

The positive moves in bilateral relations reflects China’s desire to strengthen ties with Japan as Beijing’s rivalry with Washington intensifies.

On July 10, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi discussed the quarantine accord to “expedite the process” of restarting the Japanese beef trade during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry. KYODO NEWS

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