Revisiting the company's second-largest market for the second time in a year, Apple CEO Tim Cook met with China's top government officials and business partners amid its falling smartphone market shares. According to a Bloomberg report, Cook met Miao Wei, China's head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, to discuss Apple's smartphone business in the country and in the global market.
The Cupertino-based tech giant had a good run in China as it managed to sell more than 2 million iPhone 5s in the country in merely three days. This remarkable opening marked the best ever smartphone launch in China and the country is now Apple's fastest-growing market. According to its 2012 Q4 earnings reports, 15 percent of Apple's annual revenue is generated from the Chinese market.
"Tim is in Beijing meeting with government officials and partners. China is an important market for us and we look forward to continued customer excitement and growth here," Apple's spokeswoman in China Carolyn Wu was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Cook was in China last March on a public relations trip during which the he visited Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn. The Apple chief toured its Zhengzhou and Tainjin facilities amid reports of serious labor law violations by the secretive assembler of electronics for global brands. His current tour is expected to strengthen the company's relationship with China as Apple is in the process of opening more retail locations in the country. It should be noted that Apple has doubled the number of its retail outlets in the country since Cook's last visit.
