Bill Gates elected as member of China's academic institution

BEIJING: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has been elected as a foreign academician of one of China's top educational institutions along with 17 other foreigners, a media report said today.

Gates, 62, now stands shoulder to shoulder with 66 other prominent Chinese and foreign scientists who have been elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in 2017.

Election as a foreign member of CAE is a lifelong honour that is expected to build up the institution, promote international cooperation and exchanges as well as improve CAE's status in the field of engineering, state-run People's Daily reported.

In September, TerraPower, a Bill Gates-led company, established a joint venture with China National Nuclear Corporation, with the aim of building and operating small, medium, and large travelling-wave nuclear power plants in the next 20 years, the report said.

Earlier this month, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called for closer cooperation with the US in developing next-generation nuclear power technology in his meeting with Gates.

TerraPower cherishes the cooperation with its Chinese counterpart, values China's rich talent resources, and will take an open attitude to translate their shared cooperation vision into reality, Gates said.