(Beijing) Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is in China on Thursday to meet with partners from his foundation on health and development topics, on his first trip to the country in more than three years.
“Just landed in Beijing for the first time since 2019,” Gates wrote on Twitter late Wednesday, saying he was looking forward to reuniting with partners who have worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation “for over 15 years.” .
“Solving problems like climate change, unequal access to healthcare and food insecurity requires innovation,” he added, noting “the great Chinese experience” in “malaria treatments” and at the level of “investments in climate adaptability”.
“These advancements must be accessible to more people around the world,” Bill Gates insisted.
With this trip, the co-founder of Microsoft is following in the footsteps of several other behemoths of the American economy, in particular the boss of Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX, Elon Musk, who came in May.
Mr. Musk notably met with government officials and visited the gigafactory of his brand of electric cars in Shanghai, where he was able to interact with staff.
JPMorgan Chase bank CEO Jamie Dimon, another major player, visited the country in June, while Apple CEO Tim Cook was in Beijing in March. He also praised his company’s “symbiotic” relationship with China.
Other big American bosses like that of Starbucks or General Motors have also gone to China in recent weeks to meet with representatives of the Chinese government.
Business travel has picked up since China scrapped its so-called “zero COVID-19” health policy and reopened its borders this year.