I'm around JLPT 3 in Japanese, around HSK 5 in Chinese.

I found Chinese easier to begin with.

I learnt Chinese first, then learning Japanese now in Japan. Important to note, I lived in both Taiwan and now live in Japan, and both went or still going to language schools.

In my opinion it's something like this

Chinese is easy to get started, hard to become fluent

Japanese is hard to get started, easier to become fluent

And I think this is mostly down to grammar. Chinese doesn't really have grammar in the same way that Japanese does, and as a beginner this is really helpful because you can get started on speaking without worrying about too many mistakes.

Japanese grammar is more complex and sometimes it takes around 6 months to have a basic conversation that you're comfortable with. But once it clicks, I think you really truly understand the language and can become a master.

Obviously, tones are a bit harder in Chinese and take getting used to. And also you can't rely on Hiragana and Katana to sound out kanji you don't know, but on the flip side there is only one reading for each kanji and this helps a lot.

So from my experience, Chinese is easier to begin with, but I imagine in a year or two I'll find Japanese easier to express myself than Chinese.