Apple opened its first outlet in China in 2008 in Beijing's Sanlitun. Since then, it has opened 10 more stores in the country, including three in Hong Kong.

"We will continue to expand in China, and the number of retail stores we'll have will exceed 25," Cook was quoted as saying.

During his visit, Cook met Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology, on Tuesday, and discussed the development of China's information technology industry, global mobile communications and Apple's business in China.

He then met senior management at China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd on Wednesday.

Rumors continue to swirl on Apple's potential cooperation with China Mobile Ltd, the world's biggest telecom carrier with a customer base of more than 700 million. Cook said on Thursday he respected China Mobile very much, but could not reveal any information about cooperation.

Li Jun, a China Mobile spokesman, said in a text message statement to China Daily: "On Thursday morning, Apple's CEO Tim Cook visited China Mobile's headquarters. China Mobile's Chairman Xi Guohua and Cook discussed matters of cooperation."

No further details will be given due to a signed confidentiality agreement, the statement said.

Sandy Shen, a telecoms analyst at Gartner China, said there is a only a small chance that Apple and China Mobile will reach an agreement within six months, as China Mobile is sticking to a homegrown telecommunications standard that Apple does not support.

Apple may resolve the obstacle after China Mobile starts rolling out its 4G TD-LTE technology, she said.

Xi said in June last year it was hard to predict when Apple's iPhone could finally be used on his company's networks.

"Apple's business in China will be incomplete if it does not cooperate with China Mobile," said Xi.

Contact the writer at shenjingting@chinadaily.com.cn

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