"Gates and Xi Jinping Reunite After 8 Years"…First Face-to-Face Meeting of 'US Big Shot' Since COVID-19 (Comprehensive)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (MS), will hold a face-to-face meeting in China on the 16th. This is the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic that President Xi has met with a major figure in the U.S. economy. The unusual face-to-face meeting between a U.S. business magnate and President Xi, coinciding with the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State to China, has sparked expectations that it could mark the beginning of an improvement in U.S.-China relations.

On the 14th (local time), major foreign media outlets reported, citing multiple sources, that Gates, who is visiting China, is scheduled to meet President Xi on the 16th, possibly for a private meeting. However, the topics to be discussed during this meeting have not been disclosed.

Since fully stepping down from the MS board in 2020, Gates has focused on global public welfare activities such as health, education, and climate change. On the day, Gates tweeted, "I have come to Beijing for the first time since 2019," adding, "I am pleased to meet partners with whom the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has worked for over 15 years on global health and development challenges."

Foreign media reported that the meeting between Gates and President Xi will be the first in eight years since they met at the Boao Forum in Hainan Province, China, during the Barack Obama administration in 2015. Later, in early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, President Xi wrote a letter expressing gratitude for Gates and his foundation's pledge of $5 million in support to China.

Bill Gates, Founder of MS.
Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

For President Xi, who halted overseas visits for several years after COVID-19, this will be the first meeting with a foreign big shot in over three years. Foreign media noted, "As China closed its borders during the COVID-19 period, President Xi had stopped meeting with foreign entrepreneurs, and this meeting marks the end of that long hiatus," highlighting attention on whether this encounter will influence the improvement of deteriorating U.S.-China relations.

Since abandoning the 'Zero COVID' policy and reopening its borders at the end of last year, CEOs of various American companies such as Apple, Tesla, and JP Morgan have visited China, demonstrating their commitment to Chinese business, but none of them are known to have met President Xi.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also visited China for three days around the same time to review Tesla's business status and met with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. In March, Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Li Qiang, a close confidant of President Xi and Premier of the State Council. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, the largest U.S. investment bank, also visited China earlier this month during his Asia tour.

The meeting between Gates and President Xi is expected to take place ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken's visit to China scheduled for the 18th and 19th. Secretary Blinken will meet with senior Chinese officials in Beijing over two days to discuss the importance of maintaining open communication channels between the two countries to responsibly manage U.S.-China relations.

The U.S. Secretary of State's visit to China is the first since Blinken took office and the first in about four years and eight months since then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited in October 2018 during the Donald Trump administration.

Meanwhile, at a White House press briefing on the same day, when asked about the meeting between Gates and President Xi, officials avoided a direct answer, stating, "There is no information on whether Gates and the U.S. government have exchanged any communications regarding this meeting."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.