BEIJING (Kyodo) -- Senior Japanese ruling coalition lawmakers met Wednesday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing to deliver a personal letter from Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, and his counterpart in the Komeito party, Makoto Nishida, are leading a group of Japanese lawmakers on a three-day trip to China through Wednesday, which is aimed at helping improve strained bilateral ties.

During their meeting with Li at the Great Hall of the People, the two will seek an end to Beijing's blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports that has been in place since August 2023. They will also discuss measures being taken to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals living in China.

Beijing imposed the seafood ban after Japan began discharging treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.

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

On Tuesday, Moriyama and Nishida attended a regular dialogue session between the two countries' ruling parties that was held for the first time since October 2018. They confirmed with senior Chinese officials the need to build mutual trust through personnel exchanges.

After the event, the secretaries general also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Wang Huning, who is ranked No. 4 in the Chinese Communist Party's top leadership.