Japan steps up seafood promotion efforts to boost export trade

Before China banned the purchase of Japanese seafood, it had been the largest export market for Japanese seafood. In the first half of 2024, Japan's exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products fell for the first time since 2020, with exports to China falling 43.8%. Scallops were hit hardest, down 37% year-on-year. Trade associations are establishing new business channels in Asia, the United States and Europe to promote the diversification of export destinations for scallops and other products affected by China's restrictions. Japan exported 87.1 billion yen worth of seafood to China in 2022, making China the largest market for Japanese exports, a figure that will rise in 2023 and 2024. In the first half of the year, they fell to 61 billion yen and 3.5 billion yen, respectively. Last year, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) received an additional budget of 5 billion yen from the government to support 170 activities in more than 70 cities in Japan and overseas, ...