Chinese President Xi Jinping and American billionaire Bill Gates in Beijing on June 16.
Chinese media reported that President Xi Jinping received US billionaire Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corporation, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on June 16. This was the first time Xi had met a foreign businessman in many years.
According to a video of the meeting published by China Daily , Xi called Gates "old friend", a term the Chinese leader also used with US President Joe Biden during an online meeting between the two in November 2021. Xi said he was happy to see the billionaire and famous philanthropist again, and revealed that Gates was the first "American friend" he had met this year.
"I often say that the foundation of China-US relations lies in the people of the two countries. I have always placed my hopes on the American people... Given the current global situation, we can carry out many activities that benefit our two countries and our people, activities that benefit all of mankind," the Chinese leader said during the meeting.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet privately with billionaire Bill Gates
The meeting comes as US-China relations remain tense in many areas, and ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing this weekend. Mr. Blinken will be the highest-ranking Washington official to visit China since President Biden took office in January 2021.
Speaking to Gates, Xi said China would never follow the old path of a strong country seeking hegemony, but would work with other countries to develop together, according to the People's Daily . The Chinese president also expressed hope that the friendship between the people of the United States and China would continue.
Mr Gates, who arrived in Beijing on June 14, told Mr Xi he was “honoured” to have the opportunity to meet. “We always have great conversations and today we have a lot of important topics to discuss. I was disappointed not to be here for the last four years so it’s great to be back,” the billionaire said.
For many years the world's richest man, Mr. Gates stepped down from Microsoft's board of directors in 2020 to focus on philanthropic work related to global health, education and climate change. He is the co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world's largest charitable foundations.
The last known meeting between Xi and Gates was in 2015, when they met on the sidelines of the Boao Forum in China’s Hainan province. In early 2020, Xi wrote a letter to Gates thanking the billionaire and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their pledges of support to China, including $5 million to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, according to Reuters.
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