Gates reflected the views of his friend Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who has bet against the US dollar since 2002.
Buffett said last week that the US trade gap will probably further weaken the currency.
"Unless we have a major change in trade policies, I don't see how the dollar avoids going down," Buffett said in an interview with CNBC on Jan. 19.
Gates in December joined the board of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the investment company that Buffett runs. Forbes magazine's list of billionaires ranks Gates, 49, No. 1. Buffett, 74, is second, with more than US$30 billion. Almost all of it is in Berkshire stock.
Gates described China as a potential "change agent" for the next two decades. "It's phenomenal," Gates said. "It's a brand new form of capitalism." Gates's US$27 billion foundation in September received approval from China's foreign-currency regulator to invest as much as US$100 million in the nation's yuan shares and bonds.
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