THE JAPAN NEWS
 

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Tokyo and Beijing on Monday concluded an agreement on animal health and quarantine, taking a key step toward the resumption of Japan’s beef exports to China, halted since 2001.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi welcomed the agreement at a meeting in Tokyo the same day.

“I strongly hope that Chinese people will enjoy delicious Japanese farm products even more,” Motegi said in a joint press conference after the meeting.

The agreement is designed to facilitate safe trade in animals and animal-derived foods through closer cooperation on cross-border controls against animal diseases. It was signed by Japanese Ambassador to China Yutaka Yokoi and Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou before the ministerial meeting.

China placed its import ban on Japanese beef after the outbreak of mad cow disease, formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), in Japan in September 2001.

The two countries see the agreement as an important step toward the resumption of Japanese beef exports, with details to be worked out later.
At the day’s ministerial meeting, the first since their talks in New York in September this year, Motegi expressed to Wang concerns over the Hong Kong situation.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Wang reiterated China’s position that Hong Kong is an internal matter.

The two ministers also confirmed their intention to seek an early conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership by 16 nations including Japan, China and India.

Before meeting Motegi, Wang had talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe said Tokyo hopes to advance cooperation to make the state visit to Japan by Chinese President Xi Jinping next spring “a meaningful one fit for the new era” of Japan-China relations.

Wang said a three-way summit among Japan, China and South Korea slated next month in China will be an important opportunity of high-level interactions between China and Japan.