Gates Serves Up Dinner And Words Of Wisdom For Chinese President

During a lavish dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao and about 100 other guests at his Seattle mansion last week, Bill Gates praised Hu for passing on the benefits of economic growth to China's urban and rural citizens. But he also underscored the importance of free trade, the flow of ideas, and protecting intellectual property.

"Science and technology are the most important drivers of productivity, economic, and social development," Gates said. "China and the United States will flourish in an environment that encourages the exchange of people and ideas."

Microsoft makes little money in China compared with the amount of its software in use there, because of rampant piracy. It took a step to remedy that in deals last week with Lenovo Group and another Chinese PC maker to pre-load Windows on their machines.

During Hu's visit, protesters turned out at the entrance of Microsoft's campus with signs that read "Stop Web censorship" and "Release all political prisoners."