Apple CEO Tim Cook turned up at a supply chain conference in Beijing on Monday, his third public appearance in China this year, as the executive courts the world’s biggest smartphone market amid an iPhone sales slump and uncertainty around the local launch of the Apple Intelligence system.
Cook, seen in a short video clip published on Monday, said he valued Apple’s Chinese partners “very highly”. “We could not do what we do without them,” he said in response to a question from an online media outlet affiliated with state broadcaster China Central Television.
The executive appeared at the China International Supply Chain Expo, which is set to kick off on Tuesday. It was his first time attending the show, Cook told Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the event organiser.
Apple did not disclose Cook’s itinerary. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Cook’s latest trip to China reflects the importance of the market to Apple, even as the company moves to diversify its production chain away from the country to counter geopolitical risks.
