BEIJING (Reuters) - Apple Inc (O:AAPL) Chief Executive Tim Cook said the company is planning to open 25 retail stores in China within the next two years, according to a Chinese transcript of an interview posted by web portal Sina.com.
Apple, which currently earns about 15 percent of its revenue in Greater China, has 15 outlets in the country. The Apple chief executive made similar comments Monday on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call.
"We're investing like crazy in the market," Cook said on the call. "When I look at China, I see an enormous market where there are more people graduating into the middle class than any nation on Earth in history."
Cook is visiting China, where he has toured Foxconn Technology Co's (TW:2354) iPhone factory in Zhengzhou and looked at local retail operations.
On Wednesday, Cook met with China's Vice Minister Ma Kai, where the two exchanged views on "protection of users' information" as well as "strengthening cooperation," according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
On Friday, Cook will attend meetings at Beijing's Tsinghua University as a member of the School of Economics and Management's advisory council. He will be joined there by Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook Inc (O:FB) founder, and other global business leaders.
The Apple chief also said the company is cooperating with Chinese firms including Baidu Inc (O:BIDu) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (N:BABA), according to today's online transcript.
Cook also said he will meet with Jack Ma, Alibaba's chairman, on Monday.
(Reporting by Matthew Miller; Editing by Stephen Coates and Ryan Woo)