Bill Gates Commits $50 Million to China After Meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing

President Xi Jinping and Bill Gates met in Beijing last Friday to discuss China’s efforts to battle disease. The Microsoft co-founder’s foundation pledged $50 million to help aid these efforts. Gates joins a string of Western business leaders who have visited China in recent weeks, after the country ended strict COVID controls that largely closed them off from the world for almost three years. This visit marked Gates’ first to China in four years. In a rare sit-down between the Chinese head of state and a foreign business leader, Xi called Gates his “old friend” and stated that China has always placed its hopes in the American people. On his part, Gates said he was “very honoured to have this chance to meet” and was “very excited to be back”.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently announced that it would donate $50 million to support Chinese efforts in tackling malaria and tuberculosis. Gates also gave a speech at the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI), the Beijing-based group that he helped set up with the Beijing municipal government and Tsinghua University. During his visit, he praised China’s efforts in eradicating malaria and poverty reduction, saying, “I’m hopeful China can play an even bigger role in addressing the current challenges, particularly those facing African countries.” Xi’s meeting with Gates comes ahead of a visit to China by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during which the two countries “will exchange views on China-US relations and major international and regional issues of common interest”.