China has announced the conditional lifting of its two-year ban on seafood imports from Japan, allowing trade to resume from most regions while maintaining restrictions on ten prefectures, including Tokyo and Fukushima.

The partial easing follows long-term monitoring of treated radioactive water discharged from the Fukushima nuclear plant, with China’s General Administration of Customs stating that samples have “not shown abnormalities.”

The ban was imposed in 2023 after Japan began releasing over a million tonnes of treated waste water from the tsunami-damaged plant into the Pacific Ocean—an operation set to continue for up to 30 years.

The 2011 disaster, triggered by a powerful tsunami, caused a meltdown in three of the six reactors at the Fukushima plant.

Since then, the site has stored large volumes of treated water, which Japanese authorities began gradually releasing following approval by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Despite expert assessments indicating the process is safe, concerns persist among some scientists who argue that more research is needed on the long-term effects on marine life.

These concerns were echoed by Beijing, which swiftly imposed a blanket ban on Japanese seafood, citing public health and environmental risks.

Before the ban, China was the largest market for Japanese seafood, accounting for nearly 25% of its exports. Japan has welcomed China’s recent move as a step forward.

“We view this as a positive development,” the Japanese government said, adding that it would “continue to urge China to lift restrictions on all regions.”

As part of the new conditions, Japanese companies that had previously exported seafood to China must reapply for registration and will be placed under Chinese regulatory oversight.

While both nations maintain strong economic ties, their relationship has often been strained due to historical grievances and territorial disputes.

The easing of the seafood ban signals a possible thaw, though significant hurdles remain.