Apple COO meets Shenzhen official to discuss supply chain ahead of iPhone 16 launch

Williams was among the US executives who met with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday as part of the first US business delegation to visit China after a key Communist Party meeting this month. The official statement on the visit did not mention Williams, but a photo published by China’s foreign ministry showed him in the group.

The meeting between Meng and Williams came four months after the Cupertino, California-based company unveiled a plan to open a new applied research lab in Shenzhen this year. The Shenzhen lab is expected to boost Apple’s testing and research capabilities in developing important products such as the iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro, with deeper collaboration with local suppliers, according to the company.

Apple has also invested in other research and development facilities in the country. It has established R&D centres in Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing and Shenzhen. Apple said in March that it has so far invested 1 billion yuan (US$137.5 million) in its Shanghai applied research lab, which it is expanding.

While in Beijing, Williams visited an Apple Store in the Wangfujing shopping district to greet staff and customers, Isabel Ge Mahe, Apple’s vice-president and managing director of Greater China, said in a Weibo post.

He also met with team members of Migu, China’s digital entertainment service provider, who were at the store to showcase their app developed for the Apple Vision Pro, which just hit the shelves in China last month.