Apple CEO Tim Cook has been appointed as the chairman of the advisory committee of Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management (SEM) in Beijing, and hosted the 20th annual meeting of the board, according to the local Chinese reports.
Active in Chinese finance and academia in recent years, Cook has been never a stranger to China. Since October of 2013, he has been a member of the Beijing-based university’s advisory board. On March 25, 2018, he delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of China Development Forum 2018, speaking highly of China’s economic achievements in the past 40 years.
Later that year, on March 23, Cook made some remarks in a speech at the Economic Summit of the 20th China Development Forum (CDF), saying China’s opening-up is essential for both the country and the global community
As Tsinghua University is now ranked 23rd in the world’s top 100 universities, the SEM of Tsinghua University is also considered as one of the top schools in China. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Softbank chairman Masayoshi Son, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, and Tencent founder Pony Ma have also been among the members of the advisory board.
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Cook said in his speech that over the course of next three years, he will “promote the development of the college and build the college into a world-class economic management”.
“The Chinese market is an important part of Apple’s business, providing around $3 billion in revenue each month for the iPhone manufacturer. ” Campbell Kwan from ZDNet.com pointed out, “Cook’s decision to become chairman of the school’s advisory comes as Apple has drawn fire for its recent activities in China.”
Photo: tsinghua.edu.cn
