Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits China Apple Store

Well, look who's turned up in China.

Apple CEO Tim Cook surprised shoppers on Monday when he made an appearance at the Apple Store in Beijing's Joy City shopping mall, reports China-based internet and tech blog TechNode.

The blog spotted a post by @STwing on Sina Weibo (China's version of Twitter), explaining that the tech titan dropped in at the store around 11 a.m. The user even included a photos of Cook smiling with Apple store employees and posing with customers. (Visit TechNode to view the photos.)

The Wall Street Journal heard word from Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu confirming Cook's presence in China. Wu also said Cook had met with Chinese government officials, in addition to visiting the Beijing Apple store.

Apple Insider writes that this is Cook's first time on Chinese soil since he assumed the role of Apple CEO last August. The Next Web elaborates on this historic visit:

The trip is not Cook’s first visit to China — he was infamously sent to the country by Steve Jobs during issues with Foxconn — but his appearance does mark the first time that a serving Apple CEO has set foot in China, as Jobs never visited.

His trip comes just days after the company published data collected by the Fair Labor Association (FLA) updating the public on reportedly exploitative working conditions in factories owned by Chinese companies where popular devices like iPads are assembled. Apple's report, published last week, noted that the FLA probe turned up no instances of underage workers employed at supplier factories; Apple also said that instances of excessive working hours were relatively low, with most employees in supplier factories averaging about 48 hours per week, though 11 percent of employees were found working in excess of 60 hours per week in February.

Cook's visit to China also comes during strikes at a Taiyuan plant owned by manufacturing giant Foxconn, one of Apple's suppliers that received perhaps the most scrutiny over working conditions. According to CNET, Foxconn is planning to recruit 20,000 workers to help pick up the slack left by those currently on strike in Taiyuan and to prepare for production of Apple's upcoming iPhone 5.

ZDNet speculates that Cook may be visiting the country to meet with certain mobile carriers that could help strengthen the iPhone's market share there. Indeed, China's mobile market is crucial for Apple, especially since the country recently surpassed the U.S. in activations of Apple and Android devices.

"Apple has done a great job with the relatively small number of retail stores they have got here," David Wolf, CEO of Beijing-based marketing strategy consulting firm Wolf Group Asia, told Bloomberg. "The challenge now is to extend the successful retail model they have in the U.S. to China. Now they are really still in a test phase. It's time to take it broader."

Check out the slideshow (below) to see photos of Tim Cook through the years.

Loading Slideshow

• Apple Unveils Updated iPad In San Francisco

  Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple product launch event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on March 7, 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. In the first product release following the death of Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. introduced the third version of the iPad and an updated Apple TV. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

• New Apple CEO Tim Cook Introduces iPhone 4s

  Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks at the event introducing the new iPhone 4s at the company's headquarters Oct. 4, 2011 in Cupertino, Calif.. The announcement marks the first time Cook introduces a new product since Apple co-founder Steve Jobs resigned in August. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

• Apple iPhone Becomes Available Through Verizon Wireless

  Verizon President and COO Lowell McAdam (L) shakes hands with Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook during the iPhone announcement Jan. 11, 2011 in New York City. In a long-anticipated move, Verizon and Apple have announced that Apple's popular iPhone mobile phone will be offered on a Verizon's phone network. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• Apple Debuts New Operating System

  Apple COO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple special event at the company's headquarters on Oct. 20, 2010 in Cupertino, Calif. Apple announced a new version of its iLife suite and is expected to announce a new operating system for its Mac computers. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

• Apple Introduces New Versions Of The iMac Computer And iLife Applications

  From left to right, Tim Cook, Chief Operating Officer, Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller, EVP Product Marketing, answer questions after Jobs introduced new versions of the iMac and iLife applications on Aug, 7, 2007 in Cupertino, Calif. The all-in-one desktop computers now have a slimmer design in aluminum casings with faster chips and glossy screens and is up to $300 cheaper then their predecessors. (Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images)

• Tim Cook To Serve As Interim Apple CEO

  This undated photo provided by Apple Computer shows Tim Cook, head of the company's worldwide sales and operations. CEO Steve Jobs announced on Aug. 1, 2004 that Cook will fill in to run the day-to-day operations at Apple while he is recuperating from surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer. Jobs is expected to return to work in September. (Photo by Apple via Getty Images)

• Cook's 2010 Commencement Speech At Auburn University

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Comments

[Alaninborneo]

11:35 AM on 03/28/2012

Sounds to me like contrived "news", just to make him a celebrity replacement for Jobs.

[retrievals]

04:37 AM on 03/28/2012

He ended Chinese slave labor? Nope

[666dorado]

08:43 AM on 03/28/2012

he started chinese slave labor? nope

[DevRock]

01:43 PM on 03/27/2012

I'm shocked Jobs never visited there, given how much money that country made him and his company. Wow.

[heloo948]

03:22 AM on 03/28/2012

He had cancer, give him a break.

[DevRock]

11:54 AM on 03/28/2012

Um, not the entire time he was CEO.

[Post31]

01:41 PM on 03/27/2012

He was looking for a new home cause he wants to be closer to his buisness.

[subdolphin]

01:25 PM on 03/27/2012

What is it about the tech world? These guys with their own dress code, strutting around the stage, usually with a little microphone on their cheek.
And the fawning, clueless masses clinging to their every word.
Could you imagine if every insufferable corporate type decided to hold a TED type press conference every time he was gonna pass gas?

[Gone 1 20 13]

12:41 PM on 03/27/2012

Cook's gotta be a good guy .... War Eagle!

[joelaf]

12:50 PM on 03/27/2012

WDE! Class of '81

[Hard Dyk]

12:25 PM on 03/27/2012

Steve Jobs was something of a misanthropist...we need Apple as far away from his anti-people ways as possible.

[thephuqqer]

12:17 PM on 03/27/2012

I guess he's there solidifying his slave labor base.

[KarateKid]

01:21 PM on 03/27/2012

Here we go again, another self righteous _ignoramus with selective memory.

[susane07]

11:48 AM on 03/27/2012

Apple should "re-source" its manufacturing to the USA now. They can certainly afford it.

[Richard Aron]

12:25 PM on 03/27/2012

But can they still make 700% profit? It's all about profit and money.

[Bardoo]

01:05 PM on 03/27/2012

And, how much will the ipad go up in price if manufactured in the US? Either every company comes back to the US to manufacture (non-union, lower wage and supervision) or no one does. We need change in the workplace, economically speaking. We have plenty of people who would be glad to get off unemployment, go back to work and save their homes from foreclosure.

[Pectin]

11:02 AM on 03/27/2012

"Apple CEO Goes Where Steve Jobs Never Did"

In-N-Out Burger?

[EuroRant1]

12:57 PM on 03/27/2012

Shopping for shirts with collars and buttons section in the men's section.

[Scott Colbert]

10:27 PM on 03/27/2012

Well not like Steve is going anywhere these days.

[Benjacomin Bozart]

10:47 AM on 03/27/2012

Put on an Apple Genius t-shirt and hang out at stores looking to meet babes?

[Benjacomin Bozart]

10:45 AM on 03/27/2012

I thought it was smile

[Ernst Angst]

12:40 PM on 03/27/2012

Same thing occurred to me!

[FiredUpRTG]

09:57 AM on 03/27/2012

Is he sure he wasn't in one of the fake Apple stores? http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/22/us-china-apple-fakestore-idUSTRE76L20U20110722

[stubb207]

09:32 AM on 03/27/2012

Apple - religion for the electronically challenged.

[Zirnitra]

09:08 AM on 03/27/2012

I'm glad to see him visiting China. Sure it may not be for better working conditions, but for him to go while he is the sitting president shows that he is very serious in the marketing with China.

Tim Cooks visit to China shows more that just a iPhone market, it shows a willingness to do things himself instead of just snapping his fingers and getting another to do the work. Apple's new CEO may have hope to make Apple better than under S. Jobs.

[EuroRant1]

01:02 PM on 03/27/2012

Call the front office!!!
The new PR campaign is working!

(PT Barnum was right... just when one begins to believe that no one in the year 2010 would ever buy these buckets full of manure... and then you come along. You give us hope!)

[KarateKid]

01:23 PM on 03/27/2012

Might it have something to do with the fact that Cook does not have _cancer of the _pancreas?