Profile: Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea will pay a state visit to China from April 27 to May 2 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Below is Obiang's profile:

Born in Mongomo city in 1942, Obiang studied at a military academy in Spain. Upon his return, Obiang actively engaged in Equatorial Guinea's national independence movement, and served as the secretary-general and vice chief of the armed forces.

In August 1979, after the dictatorship of Francisco Macias Nguema had been overthrown, Obiang became the chairman of the military committee and head of state. He took office as president in August 1982.

In December 1986, Obiang founded the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea and became the party chairman. He was reelected as the country's president for four times in a row in 1989, 1996, 2002 and 2009.

Obiang has visited China eight times, and his upcoming visit will be his second time in China on a state visit. Among other visits to China, in 2006, he attended the Beijing summits of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. In 2010, he joined the Equatorial Guinean Pavilion event at the Shanghai Expo. Two years later, he visited China and attended the opening ceremony of the 5th ministerial meeting of the forum. Endi