BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will pay a state visit to China on April 22-24 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Aliyev was born in Baku on Dec. 24, 1961. He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1985 with a PhD degree in history and later lectured at the institute till 1990.
From 1991 to 1994, he worked in the private sector.
From 1994 to August 2003, Aliyev successively served as vice president and first vice president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan.
In August 2003, he was appointed prime minister. Two months later, Aliyev was elected president. He was re-elected in 2008, 2013, 2018 and 2024.
Since 2005, Aliyev has served as chairman of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party. ■
