Apple announces new clean energy fund in China

U.S. tech giant Apple on Monday said it will invest 720 million yuan (about 100.31 million U.S. dollars) to launch a new clean energy fund in China.

The investment fund seeks to add around 550,000 megawatt-hours of wind and solar energy generation capacity to China's power grid annually, with this figure expected to increase as more investors join in, the tech firm said in a statement.

Apple's suppliers in China are making world-class advances in smart and green manufacturing, Apple's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams was quoted as saying in the statement.

He added that with the launch of the fund, the firm looks forward to deepening its collaboration with suppliers across China to drive innovation for a shared planet.

"We're proud to announce a new clean energy fund in China! Two thirds of our supply chain here is already running on renewable energy," Apple CEO Tim Cook posted on his account on China's X-like social media platform Weibo, noting that the fund will help further Apple's goal of running on 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.

The announcement came amid Cook's latest visit to China, during which he met with Chinese officials and attended the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum on Sunday in Beijing.

The robust measures proposed by the Chinese government to boost consumption will facilitate development across multiple sectors, Cook said when meeting with Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, on Sunday.

The business community has a big role to play in the development of China-U.S. relations, Cook noted, adding that Apple is willing to contribute to the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of the bilateral relations. ■