VIENTIANE, Laos: Japanese Foreign Minister KAMIKAWA Yoko and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Friday agreed to promote a mutually beneficial strategic relationship.

Kamikawa and Wang also affirmed that the two sides will continue to make efforts for building a constructive and stable bilateral relationship.

It was the first meeting between them since they met in Busan, South Korea, in November 2023.

In the day’s meeting in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, Kamikawa again called on China to immediately remove its import ban on Japanese fishery products, introduced in response to the start in August last year of the release into the ocean of tritium-containing treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

She also urged the immediate release of Japanese nationals detained in China.

Kamikawa and Wang agreed to continue to communicate closely, including through mutual visits.

The Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers are visiting Laos to attend meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

JIJI Press