Where does the CEO of Apple go when he visits China? Why, a farm, of course. All jokes aside, Tim Cook, along with Apple COO Jeff Williams and Vice President and Managing Director of Greater China Isabel Ge Mahe made a surprise (for us at least) visit to an unassuming organic farm in Shunyi, a suburban district of Beijing. The farm is nicknamed the “Technology Backyard”. The Apple executives visited the location to learn how iPhones and iPads are used for “smart agriculture” in the yard.
Born in August 2023, the “Technology Backyard:” was founded by the China Foundation for Rural Development and is run by researchers from China Agricultural University and Zhejiang University. Apple was the first corporation to sponsor and support the programme. Now there are over 30 of these Backyards across China.
On this trip to Beijing, Tim Cook and the team also visited the Apple shop in Wangfujing, one of the iconic historical shopping districts in the centre of the Chinese capital. He also met up with Chinese singer-songwriter Lexie Liu and photographer Chen Man to discuss how Apple hardware and software are used in their creative processes. Cook then attended a match of the mobile game NBA Rivals by developer GALA Sports that showcases the power of the iPhone 16 series and the A18 processor. He later visited the headquarters of Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform.
Each time Cook visits China it is heavily covered and speculated by the media about how important the Chinese market is to the American group and vice versa. The China visit by both Tim Cook and Jeff Williams at the same time is a rare sight, and it shows how much it means for the American Tech giant to not only showcase the power and practical uses of Apple products, including Apple Intelligence but also support education, agricultural research, as well as the creative industries and the gaming community.
