Tim Cook Attending Chinese Development Conference Later This Month

Apple CEO Tim Cook will be one of the 100-plus high-profile CEOs and executives in attendance at this year's China Development Forum (CDF) being held Saturday, March 20 through Monday, March 22, Global Times reports.

1x 1
The CDF is an annual conference organized and led by the Development Research Center of the State Council, to gather the world's most prominent executives and CEOs to discuss China's economic future and the roadmap of the global economy. BMW's chairman of the management board, Oliver Zipse, will co-chair this year's conference.

According to a description from the state-run outlet Global Times, this year's forum will mark the "first five-year plan for the country (China) to embark on a new journey to fully build a modern socialist country and realize the second centenary goal." The conference's overarching theme is "China on a New Journey Toward Modernization."

This year's conference will be a hybrid of virtual and in-person, although it's unclear in which capacity Cook will attend. This will not be the first time ‌Tim Cook‌ attends CDF. In 2018, Cook co-chaired the conference, in which he advocated for stronger privacy regulation amid Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
imac video apple feature

Apple Makes Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever

Tuesday February 3, 2026 12:45 pm PST by
Apple recently acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to Financial Times sources. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014. This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019....
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...

Top Rated Comments

Ds6778 Avatar
64 months ago
Of course he is. Maybe a special watch band for the Uyghurs being oppressed and held in detention centers would be nice. /s

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/22/americas/canada-china-xinjiang-genocide-intl-hnk/index.html
Score: 63 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Naraxus Avatar
64 months ago

Last time I checked the definition of genocide, there is reduction in population, mass killing... do we have any proof?

And last time I checked, population of Uyghur has growth quite bit. That doesn’t seems to fit the definition of genocide.

Or maybe Apple should also release a special watch band for Muslim killed by America military? Or boy killed by Australia’s troop?
Genocide: the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.

China has been doing this for EONS. Tibet comes readily to mind. But back to your comment: https://newlinesinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Chinas-Breaches-of-the-GC.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_genocide

As usual Tim Cook likes to talk tough on equality and human rights but when it comes to China he remains conspicuously silent. He hides behind his usual rhetoric of "We follow the laws of......." on one hand and then lectures the rest of the world on the other.

He has ZERO integrity.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Adoniram Avatar
64 months ago
I feel like western CEOs who attend serve only to justify the further spread of communism and China’s abuse of human rights.
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
magicschoolbus Avatar
64 months ago
Ah yes - the company that preaches about Social Justice in the USA is attending the communist economic form - maybe they can talk about the concentration camps throughout China? That would be some real social justice. Of course, they won't.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brendu Avatar
64 months ago

So far, you have not give me any proof that China is doing mess killing. So there is no genocide.
Way to argue word semantics instead of being able to admit China is doing horrible things to people who have done nothing wrong. Unless you are a Chinese communist party member who thinks having religious beliefs means you should be imprisoned, raped, and forced to do hard labor... Surely you don't think that's the case do you!?
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
magicschoolbus Avatar
64 months ago
Trump: We should have a Muslim ban
Tim Cook: We are accepting, we should not do that

China: We are throwing Uyghur's into concentration camps
Tim Cook: Ill be showing up at your economic form on April 22nd.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)