Canada freezes activity with the AIIB, Bill Gates lands in Beijing, and Guo Wengui is denied bail in the U.S.

Here’s what else you need to know about China today:

Canada has frozen all activity at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), after the bank’s public relations manager stepped down, alleging the China-led global lender was “dominated by Communist Party members.”

Bob Pickard announced his resignation as the AIIB’s director general of global communications in a post on Twitter: “As a patriotic Canadian, this was my only course. The Bank is dominated by Communist Party members and also has one of the most toxic cultures imaginable. I don’t believe that my country’s interests are served by its AIIB membership.”

Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s finance minister and deputy prime minister, stated today that her country will “immediately halt all government-led activity at the bank,” adding that she was launching a review of the allegations and Canada’s “involvement” with the AIIB.

Bill Gates is in China for the first time since 2019 to meet with “partners who have been working on global health and development challenges” with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Microsoft co-founder and famous billionaire philanthropist announced on Twitter today. “Solving problems like climate change, health inequity and food insecurity requires innovation. From developing malaria drugs to investing in climate adaptation, China has a lot of experience in that. We need to unlock that kind of progress for more people around the world,” he wrote.

Gates is expected to meet Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 in Beijing on Friday, in what would be Xi’s first meeting with a foreign private entrepreneur in recent years. Gates’ visit to China follows one paid by Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, where he met with top Chinese officials on a two-day charm campaign to Beijing and Shanghai. But Musk did not meet with Xi.

A U.S. court denied bail for Guō Wénguì 郭文贵, the exiled Chinese businessman known to some as the Donald Trump of Beijing. He is awaiting trial over an alleged billion-dollar fraud for misusing funds that he raised by promising online followers outsized investment returns in a media company, cryptocurrency, and other ventures.

Guo (aka Miles Kwok) has lived in New York since 2014. He was arrested and jailed in March. He is a conspiracy theorist and supporter of U.S. right wing entrepreneur Steve Bannon. Guo has previously paid thugs to harass Chinese dissidents in the U.S.

Lionel Messi greeted Chinese fans on a live streaming show on Taobao Live, Alibaba’s live streaming platform, garnering up to 2.5 million viewers on Wednesday afternoon, Beijing time. In a 20-minute live interview, Messi showed up with Chinese influencer Lǐ Xuānzhuō 李宣卓, a popular ecommerce influencer, and Hè Wěi 贺炜, a football commentator with state broadcaster CCTV. Messi spoke briefly about his football career and wished Chinese fans a “happy Dragon Boat Festival” ahead of the national holiday on June 22. “I want to say hi to all Chinese fans and I’m very happy to be here,” he said through an interpreter in Spanish.

Messi, who was greeted by mobs of fans in Beijing on Saturday, will lead Argentina against Australia in a friendly match at Beijing’s newly renovated 68,000-seat Workers’ Stadium today, June 15 — the same day as Chinese leader and football fan Xí Jìnpíng’s 习近平 70th birthday.