China halted seafood imports from Japan after Tokyo Electric Power Company began discharging contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea. In the context of China's total ban on imports of Japanese fish products, the government plans to provide additional support to fishing companies, especially the scallop industry.

According to Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the export value of scallops (excluding processed foods) in 2022 was 91 billion yen, of which 46.7 billion yen was exported to China.

Scallop hulling requires multiple processes, and if done in Japan, labor costs are higher than in other countries and the number of workers is difficult to guarantee. The Japanese government is considering the possibility of providing necessary financial assistance to the scallop processing industry.