Apple's Tim Cook Says Government-Business Cooperation Can Avert Trade War
Dou Shicong
DATE:  Mar 26 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Apple's Tim Cook Says Government-Business Cooperation Can Avert Trade War Apple's Tim Cook Says Government-Business Cooperation Can Avert Trade War

(Yicai Global) March 26 -- Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook has warned that a China-US trade conflict would only cause both sides to suffer and said the US tech giant is seeking to avert a trade war through government-company cooperation.

"My belief is that businesses should engage with governments in the countries that they're doing business, whether they agree or disagree," Cook said in a speech at the annual China Development Forum in Beijing. The forum is a three-day event that presents a significant platform for discussions between the Chinese government, international business and academic communities.

Cook also called for "calm heads" amid growing trade friction between the world's two largest economies. US President Donald Trump last week signed a document that could lead to the country slapping wide-ranging tariffs on Chinese imports and curtailing Chinese mergers and acquisitions in the US. For its part, China has vowed to defend its legitimate rights and interests with all necessary measures.

Apple still manages to ply economic cooperation with China, Cook said, addressing the intensifying trade conflict. The California-based company has entrusted the operation of Chinese-user-oriented iCloud services to a state-backed enterprise in Guizhou province per local government requirements, and such cooperation might be a way to defuse trade conflicts.

Cook is among more than 120 overseas representatives to the 18-year-old China Development Forum that kicked off on March 24. Other well-known entrepreneurs attending the gathering include Daimler AG Chairman Dieter Zetsche, IBM Corp. Chairman Virginia Rometty, and Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Alphabet Inc.'s Google division.

China has made extraordinary achievements in its economic development over the last four decades, and its mass production capacity attracted Apple many years ago, Cook said. China is no longer a mere manufacturer; its capability in innovation and research and development is also remarkable, Caijing magazine reported yesterday.

China is seeing a boom in its developer community, which ranks top in the world in numbers, downloads and income, Cook said, using the App Store as an example. Chinese developers can access clients from 155 countries worldwide through Apple's open platform -- an unprecedented effect.

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Keywords:   Tim Cook,Apple,China Development Forum