Apple CEO Tim Cook praised China for its quick innovation and its long relationships with the American iPhone maker in his first public remarks on Saturday while on a visit there.

Tim Cook is in Beijing for the China Development Forum, a government-sponsored event that is back in full swing after the country lifted COVID controls late last year. In addition to Cook, senior government officials and CEOs from companies such as Pfizer and BHP will be in attendance.

“Innovation is developing rapidly in China and I believe it will further accelerate,” stated Tim Cook. His visit coincides with rising tensions between Beijing and Washington, as well as Apple’s efforts to reduce its supply chain reliance on China by shifting production to new up-and-coming centres such as India.

Last year, production at Foxconn’s world’s largest iPhone factory was severely disrupted as a result of China’s zero-COVID policies, which fueled worker unrest.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also paid a visit to an Apple Store in Beijing on Friday, and photos of his visit went viral on Chinese social media.

According to local media reports, Tim Cook also spoke about education and the need for young people to develop critical thinking skills through programming while announcing Apple’s intention to increase funding for its rural education programme to 100 million yuan.

Meanwhile, Apple has approached film studios about collaborating to release a select number of movies in theatres this year and a number more in the future. The list of potential releases also includes Ridley Scott’s drama Napoleon and Martin Scorsese’s spy thriller Argylle.

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