TOKYO –  Japan’s finance minister, Taro Aso, says recent moves by China to allow its currency to depreciate are a concern and could pose problems for Tokyo.

The Nikkei newspaper and other local media quoted Aso as saying that China is a big factor behind the recent decline in share prices in Japan, where the share benchmark fell 3 percent to 19,435.83 on Friday.

Japan’s own currency, the yen, has fallen by over 60 percent against the U.S. dollar since hitting a peak of 75.35 yen to the dollar in October 2011. It was trading near 123 yen per dollar Friday.

The yen’s depreciation was hastened by massive monetary easing since 2013 by the Bank of Japan, which is buying trillions of yen in assets each month, seeking to spur growth.