BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The president of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou-N'Guesso, will pay a state visit to China and attend the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) from Sept. 2 to 9 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Sassou-N'Guesso was born in 1943 in the northern province of Oyo in the Republic of Congo. He previously studied at Algerian and French military schools, and held military posts such as Brazzaville military district commander, commander of the army, and director general of the National Security Bureau.
In March 1979, Sassou-N'Guesso was elected chairman of the Congolese Labour Party and became president. He was re-elected twice in 1984 and 1989 respectively. He took office again in October 1997.
In March 2002, Sassou-N'Guesso was elected as president again, and was re-elected in August 2009 and April 2016.
Sassou-N'Guesso has paid six official visits to China. In 2006, he attended the FOCAC Summit in Beijing. In 2010, he was present at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo.
