Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his counterparts from the Group of Seven leading democracies are seeking to issue a separate statement with language opposing "economic coercion," with China in mind, officials with knowledge of the planning said Saturday.

The statement, if issued after the conclusion of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima on May 21, will highlight the importance of strengthening supply chains for critical industrial materials, such as semiconductors, and criticizing using economic means in pursuit of political objectives, according to the officials.

It is almost certain that the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, as well as the European Union, will refer to the issue in their main communique, but they are aiming to express their views in more detail in a separate document, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The release of the envisaged appendix would mark a step further than prior commitments by the group at a time when many nations believe that economic coercion against trading partners has become part of some countries' foreign policy.

Similar topics had dominated at G-7 ministerial meetings, under the presidency of Japan, in the run-up to the summit, including its three-day meeting of finance chiefs that ended in Niigata on Saturday.