“It’s kind of a symbiotic relationship that I think we’ve both benefited from,” he said in an interview about the role of technology in education, adding, “Apple and China have grown together.”
Tim Cook’s speech comes at a time when Apple, the world’s largest company by market cap, is trying to shift manufacturing activities out of China.
Sales of Apple products have been penalized by factory production restrictions in 2022 due to China’s so-called “zero Covid” policy.
US controls on exports of high-tech components also threaten Apple’s supply chain. A subject Mr. Cook did not address during this exchange.
However, the Apple CEO stressed the need to bridge the education gap between schools in urban and rural areas. And he also encouraged young people to learn to code and develop their critical thinking.
Mr. Cook specifically pledged to increase Apple’s spending on its education program in rural China to 100 million yuan ($15.1 million).
He visited an Apple store in downtown Beijing on Friday and snapped a selfie with singer Huang Ling that went viral on Chinese social media.
© 2023 AFP