Tim Cook, the chairman of Apple, visited China for the first time since stepping down as CEO last month. This marks his first trip to China in seven months, following a visit to an iPhone product filming site in Guangzhou. He is also scheduled to attend the annual advisory committee meeting at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management in Beijing.
On October 11, Cook shared a photo on his Weibo account from the iPhone product filming site in Guangzhou. The image features Chinese director Gu Tianqi filming a short video titled 'Yingchun' using the iPhone 18 Pro. He also posted a photo with Gu Tianqi and Dai Zirong, a practitioner of the martial art Wing Chun.
Cook expressed his excitement about returning to China, stating, 'I am happy to visit China again. Experiencing the charm of Wing Chun through the lens of the iPhone 18 Pro in Guangzhou was an unforgettable experience.'
In conjunction with Cook's visit, the Chinese state-run English media outlet China Daily reported that Apple has increased its commitment to the second phase of its clean energy fund in China from $100 million last year to $212 million. This fund has made initial investments in a 260 MW wind power project in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and a 50 MW wind power project in Shandong Province.
Industry analysts believe Cook's visit is related to the 27th annual meeting of Tsinghua University's advisory committee, which will take place in Beijing on October 13-14. Cook has served as the committee's chairman since 2019. This year, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, and Marc Pictet, senior managing partner at Pictet Group, have joined the committee as advisors.
Since becoming CEO in 2011, Cook has consistently visited China, maintaining relations with the local market despite U.S.-China tensions. Even after stepping down as CEO last month, he represented Apple at a state dinner during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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