New York Times reporter Chris Buckley forced to leave China after critical report on Premier Wen Jiabao

A New York Times reporter has been forced to leave China, two months after the newspaper carried a critical report on the wealth of the family of Premier Wen Jiabao.

Mr Chris Buckley, who has worked in China as a journalist since 2000, left for Hong Kong on Monday after the authorities did not issue him a working visa for 2013 before the year's end, the Times said.

It is the latest of what press groups claim is a series of cases in which authorities have obstructed the work of foreign journalists, who sometimes have a difficult relationship with Beijing.

The newspaper in October published an investigation which claimed that relatives of China's reformist premier Wen Jiabao have amassed huge riches during his tenure.