After many recent trips to the Asian behemoth by American corporate titans, Bill Gates was there on Thursday to meet with partners in global health and development.
“I’ve just landed in Beijing for the first time since 2019, where I’m excited to visit with partners who have been working on global health and development challenges with (the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) for more than 15 years,” Gates wrote on Twitter late Wednesday.
“Solving problems like climate change, health inequity and food insecurity requires innovation,” Gates added. “From developing malaria drugs to investing in climate adaptation, China has a lot of experience in that. We need to unlock that kind of progress for more people around the world.”
Gates is one of many Western business leaders who have visited China since the nation lifted the severe Covid restrictions that had kept it mostly walled off from the outside world for over three years.
Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, went to China earlier this month, and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and another tech billionaire, went there for the first time in more than three years in late May.
Musk, whose company, Tesla, has significant economic interests in China, met with senior government representatives in Beijing and held a late-night discussion with employees at Tesla’s Gigafactory outside of Shanghai.
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, visited Beijing in March and said that his business had a “symbiotic” connection with China.
Some significant international corporations’ CEOs have lately visited the nation and met with government representatives, including Starbucks and General Motors.
