Apple CEO Cook's' China Tour 'has new developments.
According to the "WeChat News of Industry and Information Technology", on October 23rd, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong met with Apple CEO Cook in Beijing, and the two sides exchanged views on Apple's development in China, network data security management, cloud services and other issues.
Jin Zhuanglong stated that in recent years, China has orderly expanded its opening-up in the telecommunications sector, creating new opportunities for foreign enterprises to invest and develop in China. China will continue to expand its high-level opening-up to the outside world, vigorously promote digital industrialization and industrial digitization, and provide more opportunities and a better environment for investors from all countries. I hope Apple will continue to deeply cultivate the Chinese market, increase innovation investment, grow together with Chinese enterprises, and share the dividends of high-quality development.
Cook stated that Apple is willing to actively seize the opportunities of China's opening up to the outside world, continue to increase investment in China, and help promote the high-quality development of its industrial and supply chains.
It is understood that in recent years, Apple has continued to expand its investment in China. On October 10th, Apple's Applied Research Laboratory was officially established and put into operation in the Hetao Industrial Park in Shenzhen. This laboratory is positioned as Apple's Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area R&D center, and is the widest coverage laboratory for Apple outside the United States. It will develop a high-end talent R&D team of over 1000 people from China and abroad.
According to the data, the first phase of Apple's Applied Research Laboratory project has a total construction area of 20000 square meters, mainly engaged in hardware development, intelligent manufacturing, and joint research and development with local suppliers to enhance testing and research capabilities for products such as iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro. At the same time, the laboratory will establish deep cooperative relationships with local enterprises in Shenzhen to form a complete industrial chain for Apple's new products from design, research and development to pilot testing and production.
According to Apple's plan, the laboratory covers Apple's business in Greater China and will further consolidate Shenzhen's core position in Apple's intelligent manufacturing and supply chain in the future. In the past five years, Apple's R&D team in China has doubled in size.
In addition to investing in research and innovation, Apple has also made investments in China's new energy sector. In 2018, Apple established the China Clean Energy Fund and invested in the construction of over 1 gigawatt of wind and solar energy projects in 14 provinces in China. These projects are expected to provide over 2400 gigawatt hours of renewable energy annually.
Behind investing in new energy is Apple's "carbon neutrality" strategy. At the 2024 ESG Global Leaders Conference, Apple's Vice President and Managing Director for Greater China, Ge Yue, stated that Apple aims to achieve "carbon neutrality" across its entire value chain by 2030. More than 320 manufacturers worldwide have pledged to use 100% clean energy to produce products for Apple by 2030, including over 80 suppliers in China.