Tokyo: The Japanese and Chinese governments held a closed-door meeting online in January on the release into the ocean of tritium-containing treated water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, it was learned Friday.

The meeting came on the heels of a summit last November between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The virtual meeting took place at a time when Japan aims to resume exports of its fisheries products to China, which opposes the treated water release into the sea.

China introduced a blanket import ban on fisheries products from Japan soon after the start late last August of the release of treated water containing tritium a radioactive substance, from the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plant into the Pacific.

From Japan, officials of organizations including the foreign and industry ministries, and the secretariat for the Nuclear Regulation Authority attended the January meeting, explaining to the Chinese side the safety of the treated water based on the results of monitoring surveys involving the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to Japanese government sources.

The issue of wastewater containing radioactive substances leaking at the nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, last October is also seen to have been discussed at the meeting.

At the November 2023 Japan-China summit, held in the United States, Kishida and Xi agreed to work on finding a solution to the issue of treated water release into the sea through negotiations and dialogue. “We will hold discussions based on science at the expert level,” Kishida told reporters after the summit with Xi.

Japan has continued to exchange opinions at the working level with China on the treated water issue, according to a senior official of Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

The two sides remain apart but have intentions to continue discussions, the official said.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press conference Friday that the country is keeping in touch with Japan over the water issue.

JIJI Press