Apple CEO Tim Cook Photo: Screenshot of BRTV's video

Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Sunday he believes progress can be achieved through "partnerships, trust and a shared commitment," at the 2026 China Development Forum (CDF) in Beijing, according to Beijing Radio & Television Station (BRTV).

"We are living in a time of extraordinary possibility in China and around the world, the potential for progress, scientific, technological, economic has never been greater," he said during his speech, according to media report.

"The question before us is not where their progress is possible. It is whether we will choose to pursue it together," he added.

"I believe we can, I believe we will do it through partnership, through trust, through a shared commitment, to all that is possible, because we recognize the future is not something that simply happens to us. It is something we build," he said. "Let's build it together." 

He has repeatedly emphasized the importance of cooperation.

"A single tree does not make a forest; a single string cannot make music," Cook cited a Chinese proverb to call for cooperation at the CDF. "Together, I believe we can plant that forest. We will not only write a new chapter, but an entirely new book," he said.

He also praised the innovations of Chinese developers and the automation at the country's manufacturing facilities, adding that Apple and China share common goals, including in green development and carbon neutrality, Bloomberg reported.

The 2026 annual CDF is held under the theme "China in its 15th Five-Year Plan Period: Advancing High-Quality Development and Creating New Opportunities Together."

More than 100 representatives from major international organizations, global multinational corporations and leading research institutions, along with internationally renowned scholars, gathered at the forum, according to the forum's organizer.

Global Times