Tokyo, Nov. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan's business community is working to ease tensions between the Japanese and Chinese governments over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about a potential Taiwan contingency a year ago.

Takaichi's remarks sparked a strong backlash from the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which advised its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan and tightened controls on exports of military-civilian dual-use goods, including rare earths.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan in January-September halved from a year before.

Goldwin Inc., which sells outdoor clothing, said at a recent earnings briefing that sales to Chinese visitors decreased by 20 to 30 pct.

Japanese trade minister Ryosei Akazawa acknowledged that there are concerns within the business community about stable supplies of rare earths. The government plans to work with private companies to mitigate the impact of the export curbs by using state stockpiles and diversifying procurement sources.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]