New Delhi (India), 26th March 2023: According to local media reports, CEO Tim Cook praised China for its rapid innovation and its long relationships with the American iPhone maker in his first public remarks on his China tour on Saturday.
Cook is in Beijing for the China Development Forum, a government-sponsored gathering that has resumed in full form since the nation eased Covid controls in late 2022.
Senior government officials, CEOs of companies like Pfizer and BHP, and Cook are also present at the gathering.
Cook was quoted saying, “Innovation is developing rapidly in China and I believe it will further accelerate.”
Cook also spoke about education and the need for young people to develop critical thinking skills through programming while announcing Apple’s intention to increase funding for its rural education initiative to 100 million yuan.
Cook’s tour coincides with escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington as well as Apple’s efforts to shift production to new, emerging markets like India and lessen its reliance on China in its supply chain.
Foxconn, an Apple supplier, experienced significant production disruptions at the biggest iPhone factory in the world last year as a result of worker unrest sparked by China’s zero-Covid policies.
