Xi Jinping meets ‘old friend’ Bill Gates, hopes US-China relations will continue

The much-anticipated meeting between Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Chinese President Xi Jinping happened on Friday where the latter called the former an “old friend.”The meeting between the two comes at a crucial time as tensions between China and the US simmer.According to Chinese state media, Xi called on Gates to look into ways to promote the US-China relationship. “I am very happy to see you. We haven’t seen each other for more than three years … and you are an old friend of ours,” Xi said as he gave a warm welcome to the world’s fifth-richest man.The meeting marked Xi Jinping’s first-ever meet with a foreign private entrepreneur in a long time.The president also said that Bill Gates is the “first American friend I’ve seen this year.”“I always believe that the foundation of the US-China relationship is in the people. I am placing my hope in the American people,” he said.The two met in Beijing's Diaoyutai state guesthouse, where China's leaders have historically received senior foreign guests.Meanwhile, Gates also expressed his gratitude saying that he was “honoured” for getting a chance to meet the Chinese president.“We've always had great conversations and we'll have a lot 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," he said.Significance of Gates’ meeting with XiThe last public and known interaction between Jingping and Gates happened in 2015 when they met on the sidelines of the Boao Forum in Hainan province. In early 2020, Xi wrote a letter to Gates thanking him, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for pledging assistance to China including $5 million for the country’s fight against COVID-19.Gates' visit to China gained more significance with this meeting as Tesla's Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan and Apple's Tim Cook have all travelled to the country this year but only met senior Chinese officials.The meeting also comes just a day after the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation pledged over $50 million for research toward drug discovery and treatments of “infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, which disproportionately affect the world’s poorest” in China.Sino-US relationsBill Gates' visit to China and his meeting with the Chinese leader comes at a crucial time as tension between Beijing and Washington rises.Last month, Microsoft issued a warning saying that Chinese state-backed hackers were allegedly trying to break into capabilities that could potentially “disrupt critical communications” between US and Asia Pacific.Also, Gates’ visit comes just days ahead of a long-delayed visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.On Wednesday, Blinken had a tense call with China's foreign minister Qin Gang where the latter urged the US to stop meddling in its affairs and harming its security.Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.