BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and pay a state visit to China from Sept. 1 to Sept. 5.
This is the first time that Ramaphosa pays a state visit to China in the capacity of the South African president.
Cyril Ramaphosa, 66, obtained a bachelor's degree in law through correspondence studies with the University of South Africa. He dedicated himself to the anti-apartheid movement in his early years and founded the National Union of Mineworkers.
Ramaphosa was the secretary general of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997. When new South Africa came into being in 1994, he was elected a member of the parliament and spearheaded constitutional negotiations.
On Dec. 17, 2012, he was elected as deputy president of the ANC and became deputy president of South Africa in 2014.
Ramaphosa was elected as president of the ANC in December 2017 and took office as South Africa's president in February 2018.