BEIJING -- The China Internet Development Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have pledged to join forces in Seattle while Chinese President Xi Jinping was paying his first state visit to the United States.

The two foundations signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday and agreed to form a partnership on the basis of equality, mutual benefits and complementary advantages.

They will also strengthen cooperation in charity and public healthcare programs in a bid to improve the living standards of the poor and advance poverty alleviation in the developing countries.

The China Internet Development Foundation was approved by the State Council, or cabinet, and founded in August this year as China's first public-raising foundation in the Internet sector.