Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, state media reported.

“On June 16, President Xi Jinping will meet in Beijing with Bill Gates, head of the Gates Foundation,” state broadcaster CCTV said.

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

The visit is his first to the country in four years.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said Thursday it would give $50 million to support Chinese efforts to fight malaria and tuberculosis, as the Microsoft co-founder meets with global health and development partners in Beijing.

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

The $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, Gates gave a speech at 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,” Gates said.

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

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon visited China last month, as did Tesla CEO Elon Musk, his first visit in more than three years.

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.

AFP

Bill Gates will meet the president of China on Friday.

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