(Yicai) March 27 -- Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has wrapped up a trip to China, during which he attended the China Development Forum in Beijing and visited Hangzhou, home to Alibaba Group Holding and other leading Chinese tech firms.

Cook’s visit has been seen as part of a charm offensive, as the US maker of iPhones and Mac computers awaits approval from the Chinese authorities for its proposed partnership with Alibaba on artificial intelligence, which was announced last month.

The lack of AI features in the California-based company’s iPhones has hurt sales, with shipments in China plunging 25 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Cook took part in this year’s China Development Forum, an annual two-day business gathering that is often described as China’s Davos, on March 23, meeting there with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

After that, Cook went on to Hangzhou, a city that has garnered much attention this year as the birthplace of artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek. Cook previously said that he has used DeepSeek’s AI assistant and said it was “amazing.”

It was unclear whether Cook visited Alibaba's headquarters, and Apple offered no update on the approval process for its AI deal with the Chinese company.

Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer, accompanied Cook during his trip, visiting Weifang in Shandong province as well as Changshu and Suzhou in Jiangsu province. Williams toured Apple's supply chain partners, including Goertek, Luxshare Precision Industry, and Justech.

Williams emphasized the importance of the Chinese supply chain. "We have invested here for 30 years and will continue to make significant investments in China," he pointed out.

More than 80 percent of Apple's 200 major suppliers worldwide have factories in China engaged in Apple-related production.

Cook also expressed admiration for China’s recent strides in the cultural sphere, saying he is a big fan of the blockbuster animated movie Ne Zha 2. He also said that Chinese video games such as Wuthering Waves and Black Myth: Wukong showed that China’s cultural output can be successful both domestically and globally.

Editor: Tom Litting