Chinese Vice-President Li Yuanchao (R) meets with US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns in Beijing in this April, 2013 file photo.[Liu Zhen / for China Daily]

BEIJING -- As a special representative of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Vice President Li Yuanchao will visit South Africa from December 9 to 11 to attend the funeral of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the announcement on Sunday in a written statement.

Mandela, the first black president in South Africa, died of illness on Thursday at his home in Johannesburg at the age of 95.