Apple CEO Tim Cook praises China for rapid innovation, ties

Despite rising tensions between China and the U.S., Apple Inc AAPL CEO Tim Cook praised China for its rapid innovation and long ties with the California-based iPhone maker.

Cook said at the high-profile China Development Forum on Saturday that Apple and China have grown together and that the two parties have had a symbiotic relationship.

The CEO said he was concerned about the abuse of technology, given recent advances in artificial intelligence and augmented reality. He stated that innovation will only accelerate and that technology creators need to use them in the right way to help humanity.

He said that's a tremendous responsibility for any creator to do that.

Cook said Apple plans to increase its spending on its rural education program in China to $15 million and that it was important for children to improve their coding and critical thinking skills in a fast-changing world.

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According to The Financial Times, the tech giant has millions of developers in China who work on its iOS operating system, as well as a very large supply chain operation in China.

During his visit, Cook met with Chinese government officials in an effort to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with the Chinese government, Bloomberg reported.

It depends on the country for about 20% of its sales. The iPhone maker has reportedly brought in over $40 billion in China-based revenue every year since 2015 and nearly reached $75 billion in China sales in the last fiscal year.

Since the massive COVID 19 protests in the country, the company has diversified its supply chain away from China.

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