Before he visits President Barack Obama at the White House for his first state visit later this month, China President Xi Jinping will stop in Seattle.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee confirmed today that President Xi will be in the Emerald City from Sept. 22-24 to meet with business and government leaders.
As part of his visit, China’s president will make a stop at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond. The New York Times reported last week that the Chinese government is co-hosting a forum with Microsoft in Seattle on Sept. 23 with a guest list that includes execs from U.S. companies like Apple, Facebook, Uber, and Google, in addition to Chinese giants like Baidu and Alibaba. Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to attend, as is Lu Wei, known as “China’s Web Doorkeeper.”
The reported event comes at an interesting time, with tension between U.S. and Chinese governments over technology protectionism and other tech-related policies. We’ve reached out to Microsoft to confirm the event and will update this story when we hear back. Update: A Microsoft spokesperson provided this statement: “Microsoft is honored to host President Xi Jinping on our campus while he’s in Seattle. We’ll have more details to share closer to the visit.”
President Xi will also stop at Boeing’s Paine Field and Lincoln High School in Tacoma. He’ll give his only policy speech of his trip at a dinner banquet that includes attendees like former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
“We’re honored that President Xi will see our factory and meet the Boeing employees who worked to deliver a record 155 airplanes to China last year,” Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said in a statement. “China’s rapidly growing aviation market plays a crucial role in our current and future success.”
Inslee wrote to President Xi in April with an invitation to stop in Seattle, noting an “opportunity to work together in making this a cleaner and healthier planet.” The governor, who visited China in 2013 as part of a trade mission to Asia, assembled a “host committee” that includes executives like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Boeing CEO Ray Conner, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Susan Desmond-Hellmann.
“Over the years, Washington companies have developed strong ties with China, and hundreds of millions of citizens use products from Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks and other Washington companies on a daily basis,” Inslee said in a statement. “We know that our ties with the Chinese Academy of Sciences are just the beginning of a relationship that will allow the carbon pollution reduction goals the U.S. and China recently established to become a reality.”
The governor’s office noted that China is Washington state’s largest trading partner with more than $29 billion of trade in 2014.
“Washington state and China have a 35-year history of mutually beneficial partnerships, including robust trade, scientific research, international education and sustainable development,” Kristi Heim, Executive Director of the Washington State China Relations Council, said in a statement. “We can leverage our region’s unique strengths to create a strong positive impact on the future of U.S.-China relations.”
The two sides have several other connections — more recently, Seattle-based University of Washington and China’s Tsinghua University announced a partnership to create a new technology graduate school in Bellevue, Wash., backed initially by $40 million from Microsoft. The school, dubbed the Global Innovation Exchange (GIX), will mark the first time that a Chinese research institution has established a physical location in the U.S.
The last time a Chinese president visited Washington was 2006, when Hu Jintao stopped in Seattle. Other Chinese leaders like Deng Xiaoping in 1970 and Jiang Zemin in 1993 have also visited the region.
Editor’s note: GeekWire reporter Taylor Soper will spend 10 days in China this November, covering the technology scene. Email him at taylor@geekwire.com with story ideas.
