TMTPost --  Apple Inc. executives highlighted their commitment to investment in China as the U.S. tech behemoth strives to revive iPhone sales in the world’s largest smartphone market.

Credit：China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

Apple is keen to seize the opportunities presented by China's opening up and will continue to increase its investment in the country, thus contributing to the high-quality development of the industrial and supply chains, said Apple CEO Tim Cook in his meeting with China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong on Wednesday.

Cook discussed topics including Apple's development in China, online data security management and cloud services when he met with officials at  the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which oversees information technology, mail, telecommunications and software industry, according to a post of the ministry’s WeChat account.

China will continue to expand high-level opening up, vigorously promote digital industrialization and industrial digitization, and provide more opportunities and create a better environment for investors from all over the world, the MIIT minister Jin told Cook. It is hoped that Apple would continue to deepen its presence in the Chinese market, increase investment in innovation, grow together with Chinese companies, and share the dividends of high-quality development, said Jin.

During his second trip to the mainland China this year, Cook also talked to Yang Jie, chairman of telecommunication giant China Mobile. The two sides exchanged views on further advancing cooperation in 5G applications, music and VR videos, building on existing cooperative programs in areas such as digital content, according to a China Mobile statement.

From Tuesday to Wednesday, Apple's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jeff Williams visited its production bases and automated equipment suppliers in the cities of Suzhou and Changsha, including a Luxshare factory in Suzhou that assembles the iPhone 16 series.

It is amazing to see Chinese suppliers' mature production lines and highly automated precision manufacturing, Williams said. The COO stressed China is Apple’s most important he location of Apple's most important supply chain and Apple will continue investment expansion in the country.

Williams noted Apple has invested as much as US$20 billion in smart manufacturing and green manufacturing in China over the past five years. “We are optimistic about the future here and will continue to invest,” said the COO. As a senior management who has worked for business expansion in China since his first visit to the country, Williams said he was impressed by the high technology and automation every time he travelled to there.

The executives’ visit came as initial signs showed sales of the latest flagship iPhone in China got off to a good start, which will help maintain iPhone sales on the track to recovery.

Sales of the iPhone 16 in China surged 20% in the first three weeks since their launch compared with its predecessor last year, according to Counterpoint Research. The premium models were doing particularly well as sales of the Pro and Pro Max jumped 44% compared with their equivalent 2023 versions, data from the the global market research firm showed.

Counterpoint analyst Ivan Lam believed base effect may play a role in the strong sales of iPhone 16, noting production issues hampered the iPhone 15 family early on. Performance of the iPhone 16 series is still uncertain considering Huawei’s high-profile smartphone--the tri-foldable Mate XT went on sale in China on September 20, the same day with Apple’s latest devices, highlighting Huawei’s direct competition with its U.S. competitor.Lam said Huawei’s device continued to sell well at the homeland market.

However, Lam admitted Apple achieved notable improvement of iPhone sales, at least from its new smartphones. “Given the smooth production ramp-up, consistent pricing strategy, and the initial wave of upgrades by existing iPhone users, the iPhone 16 series has experienced substantial growth in the Chinese domestic market,” Lam said. “The product mix has also improved markedly.”