Apple CEO Tim Cook has traveled to China on official bussiness for the second time in ten months, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. There are few details available on the Apple executive’s plans, but it was reported that he met with Miao Wei, the head of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Topics for Mr. Cook and his Chinese hosts involve both Apple’s retail presence there, which has nearly doubled in the past year, and the future for Apple’s iPhone in the country. The iPhone is currently available on China’s two smaller mobile carriers but Apple has been unable to ink a deal with state-run China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile carrier.
Mr. Cook has also reportedly visited Gary Locke, the U.S. Ambassador to China, according to tweets discovered by The Next Web.
China, in which Apple has long manufactured the majority of its products, is positioning itself as one of the company’s most important markets in the coming years. The country’s increasingly urban population and Apple’s push to release products there soon after their release in Western nations has led to strong sales and retail stores that Mr. Cook reportedly characterized as Apple’s “busiest in the world.”
Teaser graphic via the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.