The proposed meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Cebu, the Philippines, will have to wait till January next year with the meet being rescheduled due to worsening weather conditions there.

Wen has postponed an official visit to the Philippines, which was originally scheduled for December 13-14, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang announced in Beijing [Images] on Sunday.

As the December 11-13 summit for East Asian leaders has been postponed to next January due to a strong typhoon, the Chinese and Philippine sides have decided through negotiations to put off Wen's visit, Qin said.

Earlier, Assistant Chinese Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said Wen is likely to meet Dr Singh on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Cebu.

"Premier Wen has met Prime Minister Singh several times and they enjoy a very good working relationship," Tiankai said.

"I am sure that the two prime ministers will be very happy to meet again in Cebu, in particular in light of the fact that President Hu Jintao made a very successful visit to India not long ago," Tiankai said.

The organising committee of the 12th Summit of ASEAN announced last Friday that the date of the summit, originally slated for December 10-14, was postponed because of "a possible major weather disturbance."

According to an ASEAN official announcement on Sunday, the summit has been moved to January 8-13, 2007.