A Japanese think tank says that the initial Chinese reaction to Japan's release of treated and diluted water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant may have worsened the Japanese people's impression of China.

The Genron NPO and China International Communications Group conducted the annual joint survey from August through September this year. A total of 2,506 people responded.

In Japan, 68.4 percent of the respondents said bilateral relations are "bad" or "somewhat bad." That's a jump of 12.2 percentage points from last year.

The respondents in China who held a similar view stood at 41.2 percent, up 3.5 points. But 29.7 percent described bilateral relations as "good" or "somewhat good," up 12.2 points.

Asked about their impression of the other country, 62.9 percent of the respondents in China said "poor" or "rather poor."

The percentage in China was about the same as last year, whereas in Japan 92.2 percent gave those answers -- up 4.9 points.

The Genron NPO notes that the poll coincided with China's suspension of Japanese seafood imports following Japan's release into the sea of treated water from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.