Profile: Russian President Vladimir Putin

BEIJING - Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a state visit to China and attend the fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia to be held in Shanghai on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The following is a brief introduction to the Russian leader:

Born in Leningrad (today's St. Petersburg) on Oct. 7, 1952, Putin graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1975 and was commissioned to work in the former Soviet Union's State Security Committee (KGB).

From 1985 to 1990, Putin worked in East Germany as a KGB agent.

After the collapse of East Germany in 1990, Putin returned to the Soviet Union and worked as an assistant to the rector of Leningrad State University, Anatoly Sobchak.

Starting in June 1991, Putin began to work as chairman of the Committee for International Relations at the St. Petersburg City Hall and from 1994, concurrently held the position of deputy chairman of the St. Petersburg City Government.

In 1996, Putin moved his family to Moscow, where he was offered the post of deputy chief of the Presidential Property Management Directorate.

In March 1997, he was appointed deputy chief of staff of the Presidential Executive Office and chief of Main Control Directorate.

In May 1998, Putin was made first deputy chief of staff of the Presidential Executive Office. In July 1998, then Russian President Boris Yeltsin appointed him director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB.

In March 1999, while still heading the FSB, Putin was appointed secretary of the State Security Council. In August 1999, Yeltsin appointed Putin prime minister. Upon Yeltsin's resignation on Dec. 31, 1999, Putin became acting president of Russia.

Putin, riding a wave of popularity for his bold military actions against Chechen rebels, his no-nonsense incorruptible image and his promise to rejuvenate the Russian nation, won the presidential election in 2000. He was re-elected president in 2004 by a landslide victory.

In the 2008 presidential election, Putin endorsed then first Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as he himself was barred from seeking a third consecutive term under the Russian Constitution.

After Medvedev's election as president, Putin became prime minister in the new government.

In September 2011, Putin announced he would run for presidency again and won a resounding victory in the country's presidential election in March 2012.

Putin made eight trips to China in his capacity as Russian president. He paid three visits to China from August 2008 to October 2011 as Russian prime minister.