New York AFP-JIJI

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 outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao.

Chris Buckley, who has worked in China as a journalist since 2000, left for Hong Kong on Monday after authorities failed to renew his annual working visa for 2013 before the end of December, the newspaper said.

In October, the Times published an investigation that claimed relatives of Wen have amassed huge riches during his tenure.

The Times' English- and Chinese-language websites have been blocked inside China since the report was published.