Vice Finance Minister Wang Jun will lead the Chinese delegation to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum gathering on Friday and Saturday in Kyoto, a ministry official who asked not to be named told AFP.

Xie cannot attend due to scheduling concerns, the official said, without elaborating.

China and Japan have been locked in a row over contested islands in the East China Sea for the past two months, which erupted when Tokyo arrested a Chinese captain whose fishing trawler collided with two Japanese coastguard vessels.

Both sides claim the potentially resource-rich islets, which are known as the Diaoyus in China and Senkakus in Japan, as their own. Taiwan also has a claim to the uninhabited rocky outcrops, which are administered by Japan.

Beijing expressed outrage over the captain's detention, and did not relent even after the man was released.

Last week, China at the last minute cancelled a formal meeting between Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Hanoi. The two eventually held only brief informal talks.

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