Xi Jinping, the leader of China, had a rare meeting with American business figure Bill Gates. This encounter took place as officials from Washington were preparing to arrive in Beijing to restart bilateral discussions. According to the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily, Xi referred to Gates as “the first American friend I met in Beijing this year.” He also expressed his desire to strengthen ties with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates’s philanthropic organization, to contribute to aid efforts in developing countries. However, the Gates Foundation did not immediately provide a comment on this matter.
Gates’s visit to China, his first since 2019, coincided with the arrival of Antony J. Blinken, the United States Secretary of State, for his first visit in this role. It remains unclear if Blinken will have a meeting with Xi Jinping. Earlier, Blinken had intended to visit China in February, but the visit was canceled due to a diplomatic crisis caused by a Chinese spy balloon’s intrusion into US airspace.
Since Xi Jinping lifted the prolonged period of “zero Covid” restrictions in December, several American business leaders have returned to China. Notable individuals include Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, and Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple. However, neither of them had a meeting with Xi Jinping. China’s strict pandemic policies had previously limited interactions between multinational executives and Chinese leaders. In fact, Xi’s trip to Central Asia in September marked his first time leaving the country in over two years.
Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, arrived in Beijing to visit health and development partners for his foundation. He confirmed this on Twitter. This is not the first encounter between Gates and Xi Jinping. They previously met in March 2015 during an annual conference of foreign dignitaries and business leaders in Hainan province. They also met later that year in Seattle when Xi Jinping made his first state visit to the United States. During the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, Xi Jinping sent a letter to Gates expressing gratitude for his foundation’s donation towards China’s pandemic response.
Gates maintains connections with China through the Gates Foundation. Recently, he pledged $50 million in a renewed partnership with the Beijing municipal government and a top Chinese university. Gates has gradually shifted his focus towards philanthropic projects since 2008, stepping away from Microsoft, and officially leaving the company’s board of directors in 2020. However, he still remains the largest individual shareholder of Microsoft, holding roughly $35 billion worth of stock according to FactSet.
Overall, this meeting between Xi Jinping and Bill Gates reflects a desire for stronger collaboration between China and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, particularly in the areas of aid and philanthropy.
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