BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Italian President Sergio Mattarella is scheduled to pay a state visit to China from Feb. 21 to Feb. 26 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The following is a brief profile of Mattarella.
Mattarella, 76, was born in Palermo, the capital city of Sicily, an Italian island region.
He got a Bachelor's degree in law at the University of Rome. His main area of expertise was in Constitutional laws.
Mattarella has been a lawyer and a lecturer at a university before starting his political career.
In 1983, Mattarella was elected a member of the House of Deputies, or the lower chamber, for the first time.
He has served as the minister for parliamentary affairs, minister of education, vice premier, defense minister, and a judge on the Constitutional Court, respectively.
He was elected president of Italy on Jan. 31, 2015.
