Microsoft CEO to visit China over probe

The chief executive of Microsoft Corp will visit China next month to meet with government officials to settle an anti-monopoly probe by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, one of the country's anti-trust regulators, industry insiders said.

Satya Nadella will visit China in late September, Reuters reported yesterday, citing an unidentified source familiar with the matter.

Microsoft China declined to comment yesterday.

Microsoft, the world's largest software company, is suspected of violating China's anti-monopoly law relating to compatibility, bundling and document authentication for its Windows operating system and Office software. The bundling of Internet browser and media player tools is also being investigated, according to SAIC.

Microsoft is one of several foreign firms, including chip designer Qualcomm Inc and German car maker Daimler AG's luxury auto unit Mercedes-Benz, being investigated as China seeks to enforce a 2008 anti-monopoly law.

Qualcomm's president Derek Aberle was in Beijing earlier this month to talk with government officials about the investigation.

Nadella is also set to attend the launch ceremony of the Xbox 360 in China, the first foreign game console to be sold on China's mainland in the past 14 years. Set to debut on the mainland in September, the device will sell for 3,699 yuan (US$602) through local partner BesTV.