(Yicai Global) Dec. 7 -- Smartphone stalwart Apple Inc. [NASDAQ:AAPL], the world's second largest handset maker by sales, hopes to reinstate some of the apps that it pulled from the Chinese version of its App Store earlier this year, Tim Cook, chief executive, said at the 2017 Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou in Guangdong province yesterday.

Apple has taken widespread criticism for its behavior in China this year. It recently banned Skype, the online communication platform run by Microsoft Corp. [NASDAQ:MSFT], and earlier this year stopped offering a number of virtual private network applications, which allow residents in China to liberally access the internet by circumventing government censorship.

Beijing-based Dare & Sure Law Firm also reported the tech juggernaut to the National Development and Reform Commission and the State Administration of Industry and Commerce in August for allegedly abusing its dominant market position by refusing transactions, discriminating against Chinese developers and over-pricing. It was the first time that Apple had been subject to such an anti-monopoly complaint in China.

Competition on the Chinese smartphone maker has been heated as of late and Apple has been battling to hold its market share. The firm has always been competing, Cook added, saying that the US company aims to offer the best products, rather than the widest range of handsets. The manufacturer has released three new models within the past three months.

The California-based company came to China for technology, not low labor costs, Cook continued, adding that there are other countries with cheaper labor rates. He claimed he did not know if the US could supply the knowledge needed to meet its requirements, and commented on China having a high level of professionalism.