BEIJING (AFP) – Apple boss Tim Cook on Wednesday praised “the next generation of developers” during a visit to a technology hub in eastern China, as the United States (US) tech giant battles to stay relevant in the country’s vast consumer market.
The iPhone maker last year lost its status as the best-selling smartphone brand in China, but has sought to boost its ties to the country in recent months.
“Thrilled to meet the next generation of developers at Zhejiang University today,” Cook said on Wednesday in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo that included a video of him interacting with students.
The post came as Apple announced it would donate CNY30 million (USD4.1 million) to the college to provide students with technical and business training in app development. Based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang University is known for producing elite tech talent including Liang Wenfeng, the founder of artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek.
The company stunned the world this year with a model chatbot that seemed able to match the performance of US rivals at a fraction of the cost.
Cook met China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on the sidelines of a key development forum in Beijing on Monday, with the ministry saying they “exchanged views on Apple’s business development in China, China-US economic and trade ties and other topics”.
In February, Chinese ecommerce titan Alibaba said it would supply AI technology to power Apple’s iPhones in China.
