Feb 2 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co's theme park in Shanghai, which was previously slated to open at the end of the year, has been pushed to the first half of 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people close to the project.

The media company has not specified a particular launch date for the $5.5 billion theme park in China's largest city by population, the WSJ said. (http://on.wsj.com/1HOKEH6)

Shanghai's mayor had said last week that basic construction should be completed in 2015, while Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger had also affirmed in April that the park would open in 2015, the WSJ added.

Beijing will start on the construction of a Universal Studios theme park this year, which will be open to the public in 2019, the China Daily newspaper said. (http://bit.ly/1DqC62q)

Neither Walt Disney's spokeswoman nor Shanghai Disney were immediately available to comment on the report.

(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru, Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles and Jane Lee in Hong Kong; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)