Apple Boss Hails ‘Next Generation of Developers’ on China Visit 

Apple CEO Tim Cook attends the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on March 23, 2025. (AFP)
Apple CEO Tim Cook attends the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on March 23, 2025. (AFP)
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Apple Boss Hails ‘Next Generation of Developers’ on China Visit 

Apple CEO Tim Cook attends the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on March 23, 2025. (AFP)
Apple CEO Tim Cook attends the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on March 23, 2025. (AFP)

Apple boss Tim Cook on Wednesday praised "the next generation of developers" during a visit to a technology hub in eastern China, as the US tech giant battles to stay relevant in the country's vast consumer market.

The iPhone maker last year lost its status as the best-selling smartphone brand in China, but has sought to boost its ties to the country in recent months.

"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 post came as Apple announced it would donate 30 million yuan ($4.1 million) to the college to provide students with technical and business training in app development.

Based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang University is known for producing elite tech talent including Liang Wenfeng, the founder of AI startup DeepSeek.

The company stunned the world this year with a model chatbot that seemed able to match the performance of US rivals at a fraction of the 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.



China’s Xi Lauds AI Progress, Meets BRICs Bank on Shanghai Visit 

Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he arrives for a two-day state visit, at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam, April 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he arrives for a two-day state visit, at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam, April 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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China’s Xi Lauds AI Progress, Meets BRICs Bank on Shanghai Visit 

Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he arrives for a two-day state visit, at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam, April 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he arrives for a two-day state visit, at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam, April 14, 2025. (Reuters)

China's President Xi Jinping urged Shanghai to accelerate efforts to turn itself into a technological and innovation hub with global influence as he made his first visit to the city since November 2023, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Xi said that Shanghai, China's main international financial hub, should strive to be at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) development and governance, the report added.

The Shanghai visit comes at a time when the trade war with the United States has raised the stakes for global economic growth, and as China pushes forward with AI development in the wake of DeepSeek.

Xi urged the city to expand its exploration of AI models and said more supportive policies for the technology should be rolled out, as he visited an incubation lab for AI startups and tried on a set of smart glasses, the report said.

The Chinese president also visited the Shanghai-based New Development Bank, a multilateral bank of BRICS member nations, and met its president, former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Xinhua said.