China to resume Japanese beef imports after 24-year hiatus

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Beef shipments from Japan to China were halted following the outbreak of mad cow disease in Japan in 2001.

PHOTO: REUTERS

TOKYO - Japan’s government said on July 11 that China completed a key step toward resuming Japanese beef imports, paving the way for their restart after a 24-year hiatus.

China’s completion of its domestic quarantine procedure came after Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng held talks with a senior Japanese ruling party lawmaker earlier in the day.

Mr He, a close aide to President Xi Jinping, told Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, that China would soon validate a pact signed by the two countries in 2019, a prerequisite for beef shipments to resume, according to diplomatic sources.

The meeting took place in the western Japan city of Osaka where Mr He was visiting to attend the World Exposition.

Beef shipments to China were halted following the outbreak of mad cow disease in Japan in 2001. The Japanese government said it will continue to advance related bilateral consultations “toward an early resumption” of beef exports based on the agreement’s validation.

Mr He was also quoted as saying at the meeting that panda leases are “important for exchanges among the public.”

Mr Moriyama, who heads a cross-party lawmakers’ group working to promote friendly relations with China, has been calling on Beijing to lease more giant pandas.

Four pandas based in the western prefecture of Wakayama were returned to China in June, leaving only two pandas in Japan. The lease contract for the remaining pair at Tokyo’s Ueno zoo will expire