At an economic conference hosted by the Chinese government in Beijing on Saturday, Apple Inc. ( AAPL ) Chief Executive Tim Cook was warmly received on stage for an upbeat speech.
At the historic Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Cook spoke for about half an hour on a TED-style stage with a former official of the forum’s host. This trip is his first known visit to China since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic.
Speaking at the China Development Forum, hosted by a research center under the State Council, Cook said: “I am very happy to be in China again. It means a lot to me and I am very honored.”
Cook talked about how the company and China have grown together in the 30 years since Apple entered the country. Apple relies on China, which for the company is both a manufacturing hub and a fast-growing consumer market. “It’s a symbiotic relationship that we both love to see happen,” he said.
He also answered a question about the importance of education from Lu Mai, the former vice chairman of the China Development Research Foundation, the organizer of the forum. Cook said Apple would provide 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) to fund educational programs run by the foundation. The China Development Research Foundation is headed by the Development Research Center of the State Council.
Like Cook, TikTok’s investors also run one of the world‘s most high-profile technology services platforms. TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., puts it at the center of an increasingly bitter strategic contest between the United States and China, whose relations are at their lowest point in decades.
Chow, a Singaporean, came under sharp criticism for TikTok during a hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives that lasted more than five hours last Thursday, as he struggled to reassure lawmakers that TikTok would earn their trust.
In the rare bipartisan onslaught, Democrats and Republicans grilled Zhou on similar issues, sometimes holding him back. TikTok later said the hearing was dominated by politically motivated grandstanding.
Apple did not immediately respond when asked why it was important for Cook to attend the Chinese government-hosted meeting amid heightened U.S.-China tensions. Cook said in 2017 that if you want to achieve change, it is important not to be a bystander in China. Lu Mai said that this is the fifth time that Cook has participated in the China Development Forum.
Cook is one of dozens of U.S. and other executives attending or planning to attend the three-day conference, which kicked off on Saturday. This year’s forum comes as China seeks foreign investment to boost its faltering economic recovery at home, while relations with some of the West’s biggest trading partners sour.
Given the long absence of senior U.S. government officials visiting China, there are potential repercussions for U.S. business leaders if they are perceived to be too close to Beijing. In February, Washington postponed indefinitely a planned visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China after a suspected Chinese spy balloon floated over the United States.
At some of the forum’s meetings on Saturday, participants shied away from overt geopolitical tensions. Many multinational executives on stage did not address the business impact of deteriorating relations between the world‘s two largest economies, the United States and China.
Qualcomm Inc. ( QCOM ) CEO Cristiano Amon’s presentation focused on digital transformation and 5G, and its potential to boost productivity for business and society at large. When The Wall Street Journal later asked him how he felt about visiting China amid deteriorating political relations, Ammon smiled, said “thank you” and left.
At a meeting on rebuilding supply chains, multinationals were represented by executives from Australian and German companies.
In other panels at the forum, senior advisers to the Chinese government were largely limited to discussing topics the central government deemed critical to the country’s economic future, such as carbon neutrality, technological innovation and health care.
Still, some went a step further and pointed to high inflation and a banking crisis emanating from the US as two risks facing the global economy. At the same time, they also praised the Chinese government’s ability to manage debt and economic headwinds.
Han Wenxiu, deputy director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Commission, said that some developed countries have sharply tightened monetary policy, which has brought spillover effects such as bank bankruptcy, foreign debt difficulties and financial market turmoil.
Craig Allen, chairman of the US-China Business Council, was one of the few foreign speakers to confront the geopolitical pressure head-on. The committee advises and lobbyes on behalf of U.S. companies operating in China.
At a session on the business environment in China, Allen laid out some of the rising risks facing American companies. These risks include political, regulatory, and economic risks, as well as risks related to China’s technological and economic policies to increase self-sufficiency.
“CEOs are increasingly struggling to persuade their boards to make large investments in China due to rising costs, rising risks and perceptions of slower economic growth,” he said.