China has officially invited US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to visit China at a proper time, said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao who is now in New York to attend ongoing UN meetings.

Wen made the remarks while meeting with 20 delegates from US firms, financial sectors and academic field, including former treasury secretary Henry Paulson and Bill Gates.

John J. Hamre, the president and chief executive of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he got the news from his trip to China last month that Gates will probably go to China in autumn.