While visiting a technological hub in eastern China on Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook commended “the next generation of developers” as the US tech giant struggles to remain relevant in the country’s sizable consumer market.
In recent months, the iPhone manufacturer has worked to strengthen its relationship with China after losing its position as the top-selling smartphone brand there last year.
“Thrilled to meet the next generation of developers at Zhejiang University today,” Cook said Wednesday in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo that included a video of him interacting with students.
The tweet was made in conjunction with Apple’s announcement that it would give the college 30 million yuan ($4.1 million) to train students in app development, both technically and commercially.
Zhejiang University, which is based in Hangzhou, is renowned for turning out top tech talent, such as Liang Wenfeng, who founded the AI business DeepSeek.
This year, the business shocked the globe with a model chatbot that appeared to be able to operate on par with US competitors at a significantly lower 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.
