NHK has learned that China has agreed to resume imports of "nishikigoi" colorful carp from Japan, which it had suspended for about one year.

Japanese nishikigoi are popular in China, where some see them as a symbol of wealth. In 2022, imports of the fish to China reached 1.2 billion yen, or about 8 million dollars.

But in November last year, the imports halted after Chinese authorities suspended renewal of certification for quarantine facilities in Japan for the fish. The Japanese government has been working on China to restart them.

Sources say the two countries' governments recently reached an agreement, and that Chinese authorities last week approved six nishikigoi farms in Niigata, Fukuoka and Hiroshima prefectures as quarantine facilities, which would allow the resumption of the imports.

The sources add that the actual resumption requires checks and a quarantine under sanitary conditions agreed on by both sides.

China had also suspended imports of Japanese aquatic products over Japan's release of treated and diluted water from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

In September, Tokyo and Beijing agreed that China would resume imports of aquatic products that meet safety standards after additional monitoring over discharged water. The monitoring is conducted under a framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency.