BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- China is no doubt the apple of Tim Cook's eye.
Apple's CEO, who is on a China visit this week and has been impressed by the significance of its secondary market, said on Thursday that new Apple products may possibly be launched in China in the future.
"I would love that to happen. China is a very important marketplace for us," said Cook in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Beijing.
"China is currently our second largest market. I believe it will become our first. I believe strongly that it will," he said.
"We are growing very fast. We are continuing to invest in retail stores here and will open many more over the next several years. We have some great sites selected, our manufacturing base is here, and we have incredible partners here. So it's a very very important country to us."
Apple now has 11 retail stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hong Kong. The one opened last October in the commercial hub of Wangfujing in Beijing is the largest in Asia.
With Cook's ongoing visit including intensive meetings with government officials, business partners, Apple employees and customers, he described these encounters as "productive" and "successful."
The tech chief did not, however, disclose details about his talks with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and China Unicom, which is Apple's first business partner in China.
He said he enjoyed working with China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom and praised their competence.
Not being an early bird to the Chinese market, Cook seems to have tried hard to make up for missed opportunities. He has visited China for three consecutive years as a senior Apple officer.
You may not leave a city because of cold but it may reduce your feeling of happiness.
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