China’s Xi tells Bill Gates he hopes US-China friendship will continue

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping has called Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates “an old friend” and said he hoped they could carry out activities together beneficial to both China and the United States.

Mr Xi met Mr Gates on Friday at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where Chinese leaders have historically received senior foreign guests.

The Chinese leader told Mr Gates he was very happy to see him after several years, and he described Mr Gates as the first American friend he had met in 2023.

“I often say the foundation of US-China relations lies with its people. I place my hopes on the American people,” a video published by state broadcaster CCTV showed Mr Xi as saying.

“With the current global situation, we can carry out various activities beneficial to our two countries and people, activities that benefit humanity as a whole,” he said.

Mr Gates told Mr Xi he was “honoured” to have the chance to meet.

“We’ve always had great conversations, and we’ll have lots of important topics to discuss today. I was very disappointed I couldn’t come during the last four years, so it’s very exciting to be back.”

Mr Gates arrived in Beijing on Wednesday and the visit is his

first to the country in four years,

due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On his part, Mr Xi stopped travelling abroad for nearly three years as China shut its borders. His international meetings since the reopening have mostly been with other state leaders.

Plans for Mr Xi’s meeting with Mr Gates were first reported by Reuters.

The meeting comes ahead of an expected visit to China by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday.

It also follows a Thursday announcement by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that it would give US$50 million (S$67 million) to support Chinese efforts to fight malaria and tuberculosis.

The foundation announced it would renew a collaboration with the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI) – a Beijing-based group set up by Mr Gates, the Beijing municipal government and Tsinghua University.

The US$50 million will support “efforts to improve health outcomes worldwide through lifesaving therapies for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, which disproportionately affect the world’s poorest”, the Gates Foundation said in a statement.

On Thursday, Mr Gates gave a speech at the GHDDI, the Gates Foundation said, hailing China’s efforts in eradicating malaria and poverty reduction.

“China has made significant gains reducing poverty and improving health outcomes within China,” Mr Gates said.

“I’m hopeful China can play an even bigger role in addressing the current challenges, particularly those facing African countries.”

Mr Gates last visited China in 2019, where he met with First Lady Peng Liyuan to discuss his foundation’s work in HIV/AIDS prevention.

During a visit to the country the previous year, he brandished a jar of human waste at a forum in Beijing in a bid to draw attention to the shortage of toilets in the developing world.

Mr Gates – one of the world’s richest men – is among a number of Western business leaders to visit China since the country ended strict Covid-19 controls that saw it largely closed off from the world for almost three years.

They have been talking up their optimism about China’s vast market and trade ties between the two economic powerhouses.

JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon visited China in recent weeks, as did Tesla CEO Elon Musk, his first visit in more than three years.

Mr Musk, who has extensive business interests in China, met with senior officials in Beijing and visited Tesla’s Gigafactory on the outskirts of Shanghai for a late-night meeting with staff.

In March, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Beijing, saying his company enjoyed a “symbiotic” relationship with China.

But the mood of the foreign business community towards China has turned cautious as Sino-US tensions intensify and Mr Xi increases the country’s focus on national security.

Mr Blinken’s upcoming visit is aimed at stabilising relations between the world’s two biggest economies and strategic rivals.

He had a tense call with China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Wednesday, during which Mr Qin urged the US to stop meddling in its affairs and harming its security.

During his meeting with Mr Gates, Mr Xi said China would not follow the old path of a “strong country seeking hegemony” but would work with other countries to achieve common development, according to the People’s Daily newspaper.

China often accuses the US of pursing hegemony. REUTERS, AFP