GUANGZHOU - English listening tests during a high school entrance exam held in a South China city were postponed Friday due to technical problems, affecting 97,000 students.

Pre-recorded discs could not be played due to conflicting formats of the recording files and machines, forcing all English tests in Shantou city to skip the listening part, according to the city's education bureau.

The problem has affected all test takers in districts and counties under the city, the bureau said.

In an announcement published on Friday, the bureau said a make-up listening test had been slated for June 30 and it apologized for the inconvenience incurred for the students.

English, together with Chinese and Mathematics, are three major subjects in the high school entrance exams, which select Chinese students into different senior highs.