Bill Gates meets Chinese President Xi Jinping
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, China’s state media reported.
In a rare conversation between the head of state and a foreign business leader, President Xi told Gates that “you are the first American friend I have met in Beijing this year.”
“We always pin our hopes on the American people and look forward to continued friendship between the peoples of the two countries,” Xi added.
It was Gates’ first visit to the country in four years. The head of the Gates Foundation is one of the first Western business leaders to visit China since the country ended its strict COVID controls.
Gates will help China fight malaria and tuberculosis
On Thursday, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said it would donate $50 million (€45 million) to support Chinese efforts to fight malaria and tuberculosis.
The Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI) is a Beijing-based group created by Bill Gates, the Beijing municipal government, and Tsinghua University.
The Gates Foundation has announced that it will renew its collaboration with the GHDDI.
The aim is to help “improve health outcomes worldwide through life-saving therapies for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, which disproportionately affect the world’s poorest,” the foundation said in a statement.
Gates will also meet global health and development partners in Beijing.
Western business leaders visit China again
Speaking at the GHDDI on Thursday, Gates said China “has made significant gains in reducing poverty and improving health outcomes in China.”
“I am hopeful that China can play an even greater role in addressing current challenges, particularly those faced by African countries,” he added.
The meeting between Xi and Gates comes ahead of an expected visit to China by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase and Tesla’s Elon Musk visited China last month.
Musk, who does a lot of business in China, met with officials in Beijing and members of the Tesla team outside Shanghai.
Apple CEO Tim Cook spent time in Beijing in March and said his company had a “symbiotic” relationship with China.
ns/jsi (AFP, Reuters)
Source: DW
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