COLOMBO - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has left for China Monday night on a state visit where he will have talks with Chinese leaders, an official from the president's office said.

The Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry told Xinhua earlier that the visit comes following an invitation extended by Chinese President Hu Jintao when the two met in Russia for a summit recently.

Several senior Sri Lankan officials including External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris will accompany the president on his visit to China.

The Sri Lankan president will also attend the opening ceremony of the 26th Universiade, the latest large-scale international sports event for China, which will be held in southern city of Shenzhen before his return back to the island on Friday.

Since 2007, President Rajapaksa has visited China several times including in October last year as a special guest to attend the Expo 2010 Exhibition in Shanghai.

China now is Sri Lanka's biggest investor and is involved in infrastructure development in the country which just concluded its longstanding civil conflict in May 2009.