Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says his government is urging China through a diplomatic channel to immediately lift its blanket import ban on Japanese seafood.

Kishida spoke on Thursday after China imposed the restriction in response to the start of the discharge of treated and diluted water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea earlier in the day.

Kishida said his government will call on China to hold discussions by experts based on scientific grounds.

The government is expected to continue urging China to scrap the ban, saying the measure is unjust. But China's foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a news conference on Thursday that Beijing "firmly opposes and strongly condemns" the water release.

A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency in July concluded that Japan's approach and activities regarding the water discharge "are consistent with relevant international safety standards."

The report also said the controlled, gradual discharges "would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment."

The Japanese government plans to use funds worth a total of 80 billion yen, or about 550 million dollars, to address reputational damage to fisheries and other industries. The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, also says it is willing to pay compensation.

The plant suffered a triple nuclear meltdown in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Water used to cool molten fuel has been mixing with rain and groundwater.

The resulting water is treated to remove most radioactive substances, but still contains tritium. Tokyo Electric dilutes the treated water to reduce tritium levels to about one-seventh of the World Health Organization's guidelines for drinking water.