TOKYO (Reuters) - There are signs of improvement in Chinese customs procedures for shipments to Japan of rare earth minerals vital for high-tech products, the Japanese trade minister said, nearly two months after exports stalled as a territorial row erupted between Asia's two top economies.
Chinese customs officials imposed broad shipment restrictions on rare earth exports to Japan after it detained a Chinese trawler captain whose vessel collided with Japanese patrol boats near disputed islands in the East China Sea in September.
A survey by the trade ministry on more than 30 Japanese firms this week showed that 16 companies out of 27 with specific responses said there had been signs of improvement in China's customs procedures for rare earth shipments to Japan.
Japanese Trade Minister Akihiro Ohata told reporters on Friday that such improvement is in line with comments by Zhang Ping, the head of China's National Development and Reform Commission, who told him last weekend that the issue would be resolved soon.
"I strongly hope that shipments will start moving next week," Ohata added.
The Chinese trawler captain was later released and sent home but bilateral tensions remain. The two countries' leaders, however, signaled that a thaw might be in store at a summit on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific leaders' gathering in Japan last weekend.
(Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
