Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates will visit China from April 18-21, according to a press release from the Shanghai office of Microsoft China.

Timothy Chen, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft and CEO of the Greater China Region, said he hoped Gates' trip would help improve relations between Microsoft, the government and industrial communities in China. He said greater cooperation would help advance innovation and allow more people to benefit from information technology.

The Microsoft Corp. chairman will deliver keynote speeches at a Microsoft forum for Asian government leaders to be held in Beijing and at the Boao Forum of Asia to be held in south China's Hainan Province.

Gates will also visit Tsinghua University and Peking University during his China tour.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2007)