As planned, Apple CEO Tim Cook arrived in Beijing on Monday for his latest visit to China, where the iPhone maker has experienced a turbulent few months. Earlier today, he caught a ride using Didi Chuxing, the Chinese ride-sharing service that Apple just invested $1 billion in, alongside the Uber rival's president Jean Liu.
While an earlier report said Cook plans to meet with senior Chinese government officials to discuss a range of issues, including iBooks and iTunes Movies store closures and a recent patent dispute, the CEO has thus far met with App Store developers at an Apple Store in Beijing for a seminar hosted by Liu, per CNBC.
At the Apple store, Cook attended a seminar hosted by Didi Chuxing's President Jean Lui, also known as Liu Qing, and attended by the founders and CEOs of some of China's top app providers, including Groupon-like Meituan, picture-editing app MeituPic, news content provider Toutiao.com, culinary app DayDayCook and game developer Tap4Fun.
Cook, who shared photos of his visit on Twitter and Weibo, understands the importance of Apple maintaining a positive image in China.
"Taxi!" Caught a cab in Beijing this morning with Didi Chuxing's Jean Liu. pic.twitter.com/Sl2xnzXtNY — Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 16, 2016
Cook has made similar visits to Beijing to meet with Chinese officials, carrier partners, and customers in both 2012 and 2014.