Mercedes-Benz and its Chinese joint venture with BAIC Motor will recall a total of 523,094 imported and domestically manufactured vehicles in China over potential safety hazards, China's market regulator said on Friday.

Mercedes-Benz Group AG cut its financial forecast due to a rapid deterioration of its business in China, marking the latest blow to Germany’s struggling industrial sector.

China is one of the largest markets for Japanese seafood exporters and the ban has been one of the main points of tension between the two countries.

China had banned purchases of seafood originating in Japan citing risk of radioactive contamination after Tokyo Electric Power started releasing treated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean last year.

Japan's ambassador to Beijing has asked for more security for Japanese nationals in China after a 10-year-old Japanese boy was killed this week in a knife attack that was the second to target school students.

In a call with China’s vice-foreign minister Sun Weidong on Thursday, Japan’s ambassador Kenji Kanasugi “strongly urged” Beijing to share detailed information about the incident, which was the second targeted attack on Japanese schoolchildren in China in recent months.

The killing of a Japanese schoolboy in the Chinese city of Shenzhen has sparked worry among Japanese expats living in China, with top firms warning their workers to be vigilant. Toshiba and Toyota have told their staff to take precautions against any possible violence,