The head of Japan's Komeito party, the junior partner in the coalition government, will postpone his planned visit to China at China's request, the party announced on Saturday.

Natsuo Yamaguchi was planning to visit China from August 28-30 in hopes of meeting President Xi Jinping and to hand over a personal letter from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

However, the Chinese side on Saturday informed Komeito that "the timing is not appropriate considering the current situation of Japan-China relations", the party said in a statement.

The foreign ministry in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Japan on Thursday began releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific despite objections both at home and abroad, including China condemning the move and issuing a ban on all aquatic products from Japan. (Reuters)