Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates met with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, becoming the first U.S. entrepreneur to secure an in-person meeting with the Chinese leader this year on the backdrop of other high-profile visits to the country by U.S. business leaders including Elon Musk, Tim Cook and Jamie Dimon.
FILE PHOTO: Bill Gates is in Beijing for his first visit to China since 2019.
Xi told Gates that he was the first “American friend” he’s met in Bejing, this year, adding “people should move around more…and enhance their understanding of each other,” as Covid restrictions are being lifted globally, a reporter from Chinese state-run outlet Global Times reported.
The Chinese president said China has always “placed our hopes in the American people” and hopes to see “enduring friendship” between people from both countries, a remark that comes amid continued geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Xi added that China is willing to “extensive technological innovation cooperation” on issues such as climate change, Covid-19 and public health.
Details about Gates’ remarks and the agenda of the meeting have yet to be reported, but it comes a day after the billionaire spoke at the Beijing-based Global Health Drug Discovery Institute and met with the capital city’s Mayor Yin Yong.
Gates praised the research work done by the institute—which was established in 2016 by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Beijing municipal government and Tsinghua University—and announced it will receive a $50 million grant over the next five years from his foundation.
The donation amount will be matched by the Beijing municipal government.
This is a developing story.