Apple CEO Tim Cook will visit Beijing later this month to meet high-level government officials, at a time when the iPhone maker is facing setbacks in its most important overseas market.
Cook’s latest visit comes after iPhone lost a key trademark dispute and China suspended some of its online entertainment services.
Now Tim Cook plans to meet senior government and Communist Party leaders – including officials in charge of propaganda.
In recent weeks Apple services have been targeted by Beijing as it intensifies an ongoing campaign to control Web content and ensure localisation of data storage.
Apple’s online book and film services have been shut down as part of China’s crackdown on online publishing and foreign companies.
With smartphones sales weakening, the loss of an iPhone trademark dispute and the suspension of some of its online services, Apple can’t afford to lose market share in its second-largest market after the US.
