Chief Executive John Lee met with Japanese consul-general Kenichi Okada on Friday to express the government's serious concern over Tokyo's plan to discharge radioactive water into the sea.

During the meeting, Lee stressed there is a need to impose a ban on Japanese food imports once the discharge begins, in order to protect food safety and public health in Hong Kong.

The CE described Japan's water release plan as unprecedented, saying it would pose a significant risk to food safety and the environment.

He added that the SAR government will closely monitor the situation.

Local officials announced last week that it will ban sea product imports from 10 Japanese prefectures when Tokyo starts to release about 1.3 million cubic meters of wastewater from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.