Tokyo, Feb. 10 - Japan's finance minister told his Chinese counterpart Sunday the two countries must cooperate in finding the cause of pesticide contamination in China-made dumplings that sickened at least 10 people in Japan.
Fukushiro Nukaga told Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren the two Asian neighbors must do their utmost to quickly identify the source of contamination and establish measures to ensure food safety, just as a media poll Sunday showed the majority of Japanese consumers are boycotting Chinese food products over the dumpling problem.
Sunday's talks were the first ministerial-level contact between the two countries since the dumpling contamination surfaced Jan. 30.
Nukaga called the incident "unfortunate."
"I said our relations are rapidly improving and that we should not let the incident interfere with our friendship," Nukaga told reporters.
Nukaga also said he and Xie agreed "to pave the way for a successful Japan visit" by Chinese President and Communist Party chief Hu Jintao planned for late March or early April.
China and Japan have sent teams of investigators to each other's country in the last week to determine the cause of the dumpling contamination, which some Japanese officials suspect may have been deliberate.
A senior Chinese food safety official said last week the contamination might have been an act of sabotage by extremists opposed to improved relations.
Japanese police have launched an attempted murder investigation.
National Public Safety Comission Chairman Shinya Izumi traveled to the western Hyogo prefecture (state) Sunday, where three were sickened after eating the contaminated dumplings, telling investigators that "Japanese consumers live in anxiety, and police must make utmost to promptly resolve the case."
The dumpling contamination triggered a nationwide scare in Japan. Authorities ordered the recall of all products made by China's Tianyang Food Processing Ltd, while many stores and restaurants stopped offering Chinese food products altogether.
Yet, Kyodo News agency's poll released Sunday showed the majority of Japanese consumers are still concerned, with 76% of respondents saying they won't buy Chinese food imports, compared to just over 21% who plan to keep using them. Kyodo's weekend telephone poll did not provide margin of error or immediately release other survey methods.
Traces of methamidophos, an insecticide banned in Japan, were found in the dumplings, the packaging and in the vomit of the 10 people who were sickened after eating two separate brands of Tianyang dumplings.
China's product safety agency conducted tests on the ingredients of Tianyang dumplings from the same batch sent to Japan, but said it found none of the insecticide cited by Japanese authorities.
Japanese officials last week detected a second insecticide, dichlorvos, in Tianyang dumplings and their packaging, but it has not been linked to illness.