BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) - Pakistani President Arif Alvi will visit China from March 16 to 17 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced Monday. 

Arif Alvi (File photo: Xinhua)

The following is a profile of Alvi.

Alvi, born in July 1949 in Pakistan's Punjab province, has obtained master degrees in prosthodontics from the University of Michigan and in orthodontics from the University of the Pacific, San Francisco.

Alvi is one of the founding members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. He held the offices of PTI secretary general from 2006 to 2013 and PTI's president of Sindh province since 2016.

Alvi was elected as member of the National Assembly twice, in 2013 and 2018, and as the 13th president of Pakistan in September 2018.

It will be his first visit to China since assuming office as Pakistan's president.