Apple has donated 30 million yuan ($4.1 million) to Zhejiang University to help fund app development training in China.
CEO Tim Cook has also visited Hangzhou, China’s artificial intelligence hub and home to the developers of the controversial chatbot DeepSeek …
Apple diplomacy in China
Despite moves to diversify production in India, Thailand, and elsewhere, Apple remains highly dependent on China, with the vast majority of the world’s iPhones made in a single plant there. The relationship between the US and China has often been a strained one, however, with the government even going so far as to actively discourage its citizens from buying iPhones.
It’s no surprise, then, that the company engages in a number of diplomatic efforts in the form of funding for government initiatives. One of the longest running of these has been the Mobile Application Innovation Competition, which has helped more than 30,000 Chinese Students.
Apple donates $4M for Chinese app development
Apple has today announced a new coding education initiative, in partnership with Zhejiang University.
Apple today announced a donation of 30 million yuan to Zhejiang University to deepen its support for the next generation of Chinese developers. Based on its ten-year support for the mobile application innovation competition, the cooperation continues to strengthen Apple’s long-term educational support for students and developers in Greater China.
Apple will jointly establish the Apple Mobile Application Incubation Fund with Zhejiang University, the partner of the Mobile Application Innovation Competition, to provide cutting-edge technical training, including professional courses such as app development, product design, marketing and business operations.
CEO Tim Cook said that the company was honored to help fund this latest program.
We believe that programming is a powerful tool that allows people to create, communicate and solve problems in a new way. We are honored to deepen our ten-year cooperation with Zhejiang University, provide skill support for the next generation of developers, help them develop innovative applications, and create vibrant businesses.
He posted a video of his visit to the university on his Weibo account.
Cook visits DeepSeek’s home town
One of Zhejiang University’s alumni is DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, and Bloomberg reports that Cook also visited Hangzhou, home town to the developers of the controversial AI system.
Chinese state media reported earlier this week that Cook described DeepSeek as “excellent.” That too was an act of diplomacy given the app’s privacy and security track record.
The government has effectively forced Apple to partner with a local company for the launch of Apple Intelligence in China.
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