Xi Jinping meets with 'friend' Bill Gates in Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in Beijing on Friday. The meeting comes ahead of an expected visit to China by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday. It also follows an announcement by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Thursday that it would give $50 million to support Chinese efforts to fight malaria and tuberculosis.

The foundation announced it would renew a collaboration with the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI). During the meeting, Xi said that China has always placed its hopes in the American people and hoped for continued friendship between the peoples of the two countries.