An award-winning Chinese photographer is missing and may have been detained by state security officers while visiting China's far-flung western Xinjiang region, his wife said.

Lu Guang, a three-time World Press Photo award winner, had been invited to take part in photography events in the regional capital, Urumqi, in late October, his wife, Xu Xiaoli, said in online posts.

She lost touch with her husband on Nov. 3 while he was traveling alone in the southern city of Kashgar and has not heard from him since, Xu said.