The 48th International Food and Beverage Exhibition (FOODEX JAPAN 2023) ended in Tokyo, Japan on Friday.

As a leading food and beverage trade show in Asia, the exhibition brought together more than 2,500 companies from 60 countries and regions to showcase ingredients, seasonings, food products and high-tech innovations for food production.

Exhibitors said green and healthy food products were favored by many visitors at this year's exhibition.

"Many companies came to negotiate for cooperation in the recent period. People have enhanced their health awareness after the outbreak of the COVID-19, bringing opportunities for the expansion of Japan's health food market," said Hidesuke Kawamori, marketing manager of a Japanese food development company at the exhibition.

As the Chinese cuisine becomes increasingly more popular, the Japanese food market is demanding more original seasonings from China.

Li Wenxi, manager of a Chinese seasoning manufacturing company, said his company is selling more peppers to Japanese customers.

"We have been exporting Sichuan pepper and chili peppers to Japan since 1995. So far, the export volumes of Sichuan pepper and chili peppers have increased by 250 percent and 80 percent respectively," Li said.

Frozen food products from China also caught the attention of many buyers for high quality and competitive prices thanks to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP).

"Frozen vegetables produced in China are of excellent quality. The purchase price has become cheaper [since the RCEP took effect in 2022]. That has really benefited us," said a purchasing manager of a Japanese food processing company.

The RCEP, the world's largest free trade agreement, went into force on January 1, 2022. The RCEP includes 10 ASEAN members, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The 15 states' total population, gross domestic product and trade all account for about 30 percent of the world total.

Statistics showed that Japan's imports of frozen vegetables increased by 15 percent over the past five years, reaching about 1.15 million tonnes last year. About half of the imported frozen vegetables came from China.