Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Microsoft's Redmond campus

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella welcomes touring Chinese delegation to Redmond and focuses on developing new technologies and strengthened relationships with Chinese partners including Xiaomi and Baidu.

Matt Blowes Neowin · Sep 24, 2015 03:26 EDT · Hot! with 14 comments

Chinese President Xi Jinping, First Lady Peng Liyuan and a high-level Chinese delegation were welcomed by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to Microsoft's Redmond campus on Wednesday.

At the start of the visit, Nadella reiterated statements from Presidents Xi and Obama on emphasizing the importance of, “cultivating a relationship between China and the United States based on cooperation and mutual respect.”

During his visit, Xi Jinping met with senior Microsoft executives and board members and viewed technology demos including the yet-to-be-released HoloLens and 82-inch Surface Hub. Bill Gates was also spotted at the event, who met with President Xi Jinping in private with his wife Melinda.

The visit highlights a big week for Microsoft and its relationship with China. A new deal with Xiaomi will see the hardware company adopt the Windows Azure platform to operate part of its cloud service Mi Cloud. Search giant Baidu will also become the default search engine for Windows 10 in the country. Other new partnerships announced this week include deals with UniGroup, CETC, Shanghai Media Group, the Sichuan province and the Xi'xian New Area.

Source: Microsoft