---
title: "Tim Cook pledges Guangdong manufacturing expansion on latest China visit"
description: "Apple executive chair meets governor Meng Fanli, eyes smart manufacturing growth."
url: https://mactoreality.com/tim-cook-pledges-guangdong-manufacturing-expansion-on-latest-china-visit
published: 2026-10-11T18:42:45Z
updated: 2026-10-11T18:42:45Z
author: "Mac to Reality Newsdesk"
category: News
tags: ["Business & leadership"]
publisher: Mac to Reality
ai_assisted: true
apple_heat_impact: 3
---

# Tim Cook pledges Guangdong manufacturing expansion on latest China visit

*Apple executive chair meets governor Meng Fanli, eyes smart manufacturing growth.*

**Key points**

- Tim Cook visited China for the third time in 2026, his first as executive chair.
- Cook met with Guangdong governor Meng Fanli and promised to expand smart manufacturing and sales channels in the region.
- Guangdong is home to many Apple suppliers and offered a 'first-class business environment' for the expansion.

Apple executive chair Tim Cook met Guangdong governor Meng Fanli in Guangzhou on Sunday 11 October, according to [the provincial readout published by Nanfang Daily](https://ld.southcn.com/node_f1b7c2730e/ff6360f502.shtml). Cook said Guangdong is crucial to Apple’s development in China and that the company is keen to expand its business in the province, exploring more cooperation with local cities and companies on supply chain collaboration, smart and green manufacturing, its innovation ecosystem and sales channels.

Meng welcomed Apple’s deeper investment, invited the company to place more innovative products, new businesses and research and development platforms in Guangdong, and pledged to create a “first-class business environment” for companies including Apple. Guangdong hosts many of Apple’s suppliers and developers and remains a critical manufacturing hub.

It is Cook’s third visit to China this year and his first since becoming executive chair, [AppleInsider noted](https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/10/11/tim-cook-visits-china-for-the-third-time-in-2026?utm_source=rss). During the trip he stopped by an Apple Store in Guangzhou, where he watched a local creator filming a martial arts video with an iPhone 18 Pro. On Saturday he wrote on Weibo: “Great to be back in China!”

Cook’s two earlier visits in 2026 included a March trip for Apple’s 50th anniversary and the China Development Forum, and a May journey as part of a US business delegation accompanying President Trump’s meeting with President Xi Jinping. Cook handed the CEO role to John Ternus earlier this year and now serves as executive chair. [He has said he will not interfere in Ternus’s decisions](https://mactoreality.com/tim-cook-says-he-will-not-interfere-as-john-ternus-takes-over-apple).

## Sources

- [Nanfang Daily (Guangdong provincial readout): 孟凡利会见美国苹果公司蒂姆·库克一行](https://ld.southcn.com/node_f1b7c2730e/ff6360f502.shtml)
- [AppleInsider: Tim Cook visits China for the third time in 2026](https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/10/11/tim-cook-visits-china-for-the-third-time-in-2026?utm_source=rss)

*This report was written by the Mac to Reality newsdesk with AI assistance from the sources listed above, under the editorial policy at https://mactoreality.com/editorial-policy.*