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Xi Jinping meets with 'old friend' Bill Gates in Beijing
Gates -- one of the world's richest men -- is the latest in a string of Western business leaders to visit China since the country ended strict Covid controls that largely closed it off from the world for almost three years.
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A China Central Television news broadcast shows footage of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (left) meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, on a giant screen outside a shopping mall in Beijing on June 16, 2023. (AFP/Greg Baker)
P
resident Xi Jinping told his "old friend" Bill Gates on Friday that China had always placed its hopes in the American people, after the Microsoft co-founder's foundation pledged $50 million to help Chinese efforts to battle disease.
Gates -- one of the world's richest men -- is the latest in a string of Western business leaders to visit China since the country ended strict Covid controls that largely closed it off from the world for almost three years.
The visit is Gates' first to China in four years, and included a rare sit-down between the Chinese head of state and a foreign business leader.
"You are the first American friend I have met in Beijing this year," Xi told Gates in Beijing, according to the state-run People's Daily.
"We have always placed our hopes on the American people, and hoped for continued friendship between the peoples of the two countries," Xi added.
Gates, in turn, said he was "very honoured to have this chance to meet", according to a recording shared by state broadcaster CCTV.
"We've always had great conversations and we'll have a lot of important topics to discuss today," he said.
