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Microsoft put a lot into the Xi Jinping’s two day visit in Seattle. At an opening banquet, Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief executive, and Bill Gates sat on either side of Mr. Xi’s top aide, Li Zhanshu, a positioning probably more favorable for garnering influence than sitting next to Mr. Xi himself.

The company spent weeks planning Mr. Xi's campus visit for a tour of their new products, and a day long Internet forum hosted by Microsoft and the Chinese for top tech executives. And, of course, Mr. Gates and Mr. Nadella escorted Mr. Xi around the products, and the campus, another chance for influence.

Microsoft has plenty of problems in China. Its operating systems are the most popular in China, but they are also the most likely to be stolen, causing billions of dollars in losses. And Chinese government bans on procurement of Windows 8 causes further losses. Microsoft recently released Windows 10 and is awaiting government approval in China. Will the company's hospitality to Mr. Xi, and his powerful Internet czar, help clear the way for Windows 10?

Facebook is now shut out of China, with its irresistible market of 600 million internet users, creating a black spot in Mark Zuckerberg’s dream of making Facebook a global social network. Will Facebook end up being the biggest beneficiary of face time with Mr. Xi? Mr. Zuckerberg spoke with the president in Mandarin for what seemed like at least a minute when Mr. Xi greeted him before photos with tech industry leaders at Microsoft. (It was an elite crowd that included Apple’s Timothy D. Cook, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and IBM’s Virginia Rometty)

From where reporters were standing in the back of the room, Mr. Zuckerberg’s chat was more than a cursory ‘ni hao' and we could hear the distinct sounds of Mr. Zuckerberg’s accent floating to the back of the room. But we couldn’t decipher what he was saying. Did he just ask Mr. Xi outright for entry in the market?

Mr. Zuckerberg posted a photo of his big moment talking to Mr. Xi on his Facebook page. It was the first time, he had talked to a world leader entirely in a foreign language, a “meaningful milestone,” he said. The post got more than half a million likes, including from China’s state media, Global Times and Xinhua (despite the national ban).

Who will reap the most out of close proximity, the China insider, Microsoft, or the outsider, Facebook?