TOKYO, Aug 24: China on Thursday banned all Japanese seafood imports to prevent risks from Japan's discharge of treated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
The General Administration of Customs said in a statement that it has decided to take the emergency measures to comprehensively prevent radioactive pollution risks caused by Japan's discharge of the contaminated wastewater, protect the health of Chinese consumers and ensure the safety of food imports.

"The Japanese government unilaterally pushing through the discharge of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean is an extremely selfish and irresponsible act that ignores international public interests," Commerce Ministry spokeswoman Shu Jueting was quoted as saying at a press conference in Beijing, adding that China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the act.

Earlier in the day, Japan began releasing treated and wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.
The plant, located 230 km north of Tokyo, as crippled by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami in 2011. According to the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., about 1.3 million tons of wastewater have accumulated at the site as of June, and all the storage tanks are expected to reach full capacity as early as 2024.
Before the discharge, the operator will dilute treated water with seawater to reduce tritium levels to less than 1/40 of that permitted under Japanese safety standards and around 1/7 of the World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines for drinking water, the government said. The water will then be released via undersea tunnel 1 km away from the coast. (KUNA)