China has notified Japan that it will postpone a trilateral ministerial meeting also involving South Korea on information and communications because of a delay in preparations, officials said Wednesday.
The meeting had been slated for Jan. 9 in Xiamen, Fujian Province, and Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Heizo Takenaka had been slated to attend. He has canceled the trip, the ministry said.
Takenaka, who is also state minister for the privatization of postal services, had planned to be in China from Jan. 8 to 10.
The officials said China notified Japan through the embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.
The meeting will be rescheduled, the officials said.
The trilateral meeting of information and communications ministers was first held in Marrakech, Morocco, in September 2002.
South Korea hosted the second meeting on Cheju Island in September 2003 and Japan in Sapporo in September 2004.
Through the previous rounds of talks, the three countries agreed to promote cooperation in the field of information and communications to achieve an integrated information network society.