British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will pay an official visit to China from Jan. 18 to 20, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu announced on Tuesday.

Jiang said at a regular press conference that Brown will pay the visit at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

This will be Brown's first visit to China since he assumed office in June 2007.

Brown's China tour had been confirmed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Dec. 4, 2007.

Qin said that China attaches great importance to Brown's visit and is ready to take advantage of this opportunity to exchange views in depth with Britain on how to further promote cooperation between the two countries in various fields.