BEIJING (Kyodo) -- A senior Japanese ruling party lawmaker urged China on Tuesday to lift its blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports, as the countries' ruling parties held a dialogue session for the first time since October 2018.

Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, called for "concrete results" in moving forward the bilateral relationship, strained by various issues including the ban imposed following the start of discharges into the sea of treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The LDP's No. 2 pointed out in his keynote speech that the countries need to boost mutual understanding between their peoples and strengthen dialogue at various levels to improve their ties.

Moriyama also called on Beijing to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals living in China and resume imports of Japanese beef, while expressing his hope that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Japan later this year.

Concern among Japanese expatriates in China has grown since the fatal stabbing of a Japanese boy in Shenzhen last September.

Speakers at the dialogue session included Makoto Nishida, secretary general of the LDP's coalition partner the Komeito party, and Liu Jianchao, chief of the Chinese Communist Party's International Department.

After the event, Moriyama and Nishida held talks with Wang. The LDP secretary general called for "joint efforts" to address challenges faced by the two countries and deepen bilateral cooperation at the outset of the meeting, which was open to the media.

Wang said the ruling parties of the two Asian neighbors share "heavy responsibility" in promoting the development of Sino-Japanese ties.

The Japanese lawmakers are also scheduled to meet with Wang Huning, who is ranked No. 4 in the Communist Party's top leadership, later in the day and hand him a personal letter from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

The ruling parties' dialogue sessions, first held in China in 2006, were suspended in recent years due partly to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moriyama and Nishida are leading a group of Japanese ruling bloc lawmakers on a three-day trip to China through Wednesday. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Wang Yi held talks in Beijing in December.

Separately, Japanese farm minister Taku Eto said Tuesday in Tokyo he will make a three-day visit to China later this week for talks with his counterpart and other officials.

Eto said he will push for the resumption of Japanese agricultural and seafood imports by China during the visit starting Wednesday. "The Chinese market is attractive. I will pitch such (Japanese) items as marine products, beef and rice," he told a press conference.

Beijing imposed the Japanese seafood import ban in August 2023.

China also stopped imports of beef from Japan following the outbreak of mad cow disease in the neighboring country in 2001 and restricted rice imports, only allowing items quarantined at facilities in Japan designated by the Chinese government.