(Yicai Global) Dec. 23 -- China is to restart imports of Japanese beef after an 18-year embargo, marking a breakthrough in negotiations between the two neighbors.

Meat product bans that were imposed due to outbreaks in Japan of mad cow disease in 2001 and foot and mouth disease in 2010 were lifted on Dec. 19, according to documents issued yesterday by China's General Administration of Customs and its Ministry of Agricultural and Rural affairs. This will also allow the resumption of sales of the country's pork products to China.

China is facing a severe meat shortage after outbreaks of African swine fever destroyed pig herds last year, sending pork prices soaring.

Japan has called on China several times to restart purchases of its meat products and talks have been ongoing for some time. A breakthrough was reached last month at the Group of 20 major economies' meeting in Nagoya, Japan.

There, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi co-hosted the first meeting of a bilateral high-level mechanism to discuss people-to-people exchanges. Not long after, the two nations signed a bilateral agreement on animal health and quarantine inspection, a big step forward.

Outbreaks of mad cow disease in other parts of the world led China to also place embargos on the import of beef products from 13 European countries in 2001 and from the US in 2003. Restrictions on imports from Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, the US, France and the UK have been gradually lifted in recent years.