BEIJING, March 17 (RIA Novosti) - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has postponed a visit to China until at least April because of "scheduling problems," a foreign ministry statement said on Tuesday.

Chinese media earlier reported that Aso had been discussing a possible visit to China in late March, however, Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "it would be difficult to realize it in March."

Chinese and Japanese media both reported that Japan's premier had been expected to discuss with the Chinese leadership a territorial dispute, frozen in 2006, over a group of islands in the South China Sea.

The islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are also claimed by Taiwan and are strategically located near offshore gas fields and a major shipping lane.

Prime Minister Aso is expected to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London in early April.