15-6-2023 (HONG KONG) Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp, is scheduled to have a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday (June 16) during his visit to China, according to two individuals familiar with the matter.
This meeting will mark Xi’s first encounter with a foreign private entrepreneur in recent years. The sources suggest that the meeting may take place on a one-on-one basis. A third source confirmed the meeting but did not provide additional details.
The sources did not disclose the specific topics that Gates and Xi are expected to discuss. On Wednesday, Gates tweeted that he had arrived in Beijing for the first time since 2019 and that he would be meeting with partners who have been collaborating on global health and development initiatives with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Neither the foundation nor China’s State Council Information Office, responsible for media inquiries on behalf of the Chinese government, responded immediately to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Gates resigned from Microsoft’s board in 2020 to focus on philanthropic endeavors related to global health, education, and climate change. He stepped down from his full-time executive role at Microsoft in 2008.
The last reported meeting between Xi and Gates took place in 2015 on the sidelines of the Boao Forum in Hainan province. In early 2020, Xi expressed gratitude to Gates, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for their pledged assistance to China, including a donation of US$5 million (S$6.71 million) towards the country’s fight against Covid-19.
This meeting signifies a break in Xi’s recent years’ hiatus from meeting foreign private entrepreneurs and business leaders, as the Chinese president refrained from international travel for nearly three years due to border closures amid the pandemic.
Since the reopening of China earlier this year, several foreign CEOs have visited the country, but most of their meetings have been primarily with government officials.
In March, Premier Li Qiang met with a group of foreign CEOs, including Tim Cook from Apple, while a source revealed that Tesla’s Elon Musk met with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang last month.
However, the foreign business community has become more cautious towards China as tensions between the United States and China escalate, and Xi emphasizes national security as a top priority.
Gates’ visit also precedes a long-awaited trip by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China, scheduled to take place from June 18-19. The visit aims to stabilize relations between the world’s two largest economies and strategic rivals.
On Wednesday, Blinken had a tense phone call with China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, during which Qin urged the United States to refrain from interfering in China’s internal affairs and damaging its security.
