Bill Gates grins in photo with China's Xi Jinping, who calls Microsoft founder an 'old friend'
Gates has not been to China since speaking to first lady Peng Liyuan about HIV and AIDS in 2019
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Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates visited the People's Republic of China on Friday, meeting with the head of government.
Gates met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing for a conversation that was covered by state media outlet CCTV.
Xi called Gates an "old friend" during their conversation — the first time the two have been able to meet in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I believe that the foundation of Sino-U.S. relations lies in the people," Xi said to Gates.
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Bill Gates, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Friday, June 16, 2023. Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping just days after a visit to … ( (Yin Bogu/Xinhua via AP) / AP Newsroom)
"Under the current world situation, we can carry out various activities that benefit our two countries, the people of our countries, and the entire human race," the Chinese president continued.
Gates said he was "very honored" to meet with Xi, who is General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
The billionaire last traveled to China in 2019, when he spoke to first lady Peng Liyuan about the Gates Foundation's work in preventing HIV and AIDS.
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Bill Gates, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Friday, June 16, 2023, just days after a visit to Beijing by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The state broadcaster CCTV showed Xi saying … ((Yin Bogu/Xinhua via AP) / AP Newsroom)
The State Department announced Wednesday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel Friday to Beijing, where he will meet with senior PRC officials and "discuss the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage the U.S.-PRC relationship. "as well as "raise bilateral issues of concern, global and regional matters, and potential cooperation on shared transnational challenges."
Dialogue between the Biden administration and Beijing has been nearly dormant in recent months as attempts at interactions have been shuttered since the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy craft that traversed the country earlier this year.
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A previously scheduled trip by Blinken, during which he was expected to meet with Xi, was canceled amid the China spy craft incident.
Fox News Digital's Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.