invitation letter related

Hello, I am residing in Japan (Tokyo), and currently preparing to apply for a Chinese visa. I will be visiting a friend in Beijing and was looking for an invitation form on your site and other sites, and was not able to find it. Could you please refer where may I find it?

Also, on your site it says that apart from the invitation form I need to provide the itinerary as well? Is that necessary? Again, some other sites said that an invitation letter with signature and the copy of Chinese ID card of a friend is enough. Could you please confirm?

Thank you very much in advance.