Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday committed the US tech company to increased investment in China, even as trade tensions intensify between the world’s two largest economies.
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Cook made the pledge in a meeting with Li Lecheng, who heads the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), in Beijing after the US executive spent two days in Shanghai during his second visit to China this year.
The two sides “exchanged views on the development of Apple’s business in China and strengthening cooperation in the field of electronic information”, the MIIT said in a statement.
Highlighting China’s “super-large market” and “complete industrial system”, Li vowed to ensure “a favourable business environment for foreign companies, including Apple” in the domestic market.
Cook acknowledged the ministry’s support for Apple’s domestic business development, while promising that the company would “continue to increase its investment in China and further enhance the level and quality of its cooperation with Chinese partners”, the MIIT statement said.
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Their discussion reflected how the MIIT this week allowed Apple to clear a major regulatory hurdle, following its approval of commercial trials of the eSIM function on smartphones by telecommunications network operators China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom.
That approval paved the way for Apple’s release of the ultra-thin iPhone Air, which supports eSIM technology, on the mainland next Wednesday – about a month later than the rest of the world.