She has been invited to the Opening Ceremony at Jakarta's 75,000-capacity Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium on August 18 by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang announced.

Among other Asian leaders to have been invited the Opening Ceremony are North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Sun's portfolio includes sport and she has adopted a high-profile role since being appointed as one of four Vice Premiers by Xi in March. 

In the space of two weeks in June, she met International Olympic Committee and FIFA Presidents Thomas Bach and Gianni Infantino respectively. 

She told both leaders that China was committed to both high-performance sport and promotion at the grass-roots level.

China is set to be represented by a team of 845 athletes at the Asian Games, which is being co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang and is due to last until September 2.

China have finished top of the medals table at every Games since returning at New Delhi in 1982 following a 14-year absence. 

At Incheon four years ago China's team of 880 won a total of 342 medals, including 151 gold, their best performance for a Games outside China.

China's best Asian Games performance was at Guangzhou in 2010 when they won a total of 416 medals - 199 of them gold.