Following his appearance at the Xidan Joy City retail store in Beijing and meetings with Chinese government officials earlier this week, Bloomberg now reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook has also toured a new iPhone production facility in Zhengzhou, China.
Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook visited Foxconn Technology Group’s newly built manufacturing facility for the iPhone in Zhengzhou, China, as the U.S. company seeks to improve working conditions.
The iPhone production line is at the new Foxconn Zhengzhou Technology Park, which employs 120,000 people, Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based Apple spokeswoman, said in an e-mail today. She didn’t provide other details on Cook’s visit or say how much longer he’ll be in China after having held high-level talks in Beijing earlier this week.
Apple CEO Tim Cook tours Foxconn's new iPhone production line in Zhengzhou, China (Source: Apple)
China is a key location for Apple for a number of reasons, including its role in manufacturing and assembly, a desire to focus on expansion in the market there, and intellectual property issues. Cook's trip appears to be addressing most of these aspects, demonstrating continued concern over working conditions in its manufacturing partners' plants while also working to build relationships with key political and business figures in the country.
