Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook secretly signed an agreement with Chinese officials, estimated to be worth about $275 billion, to placate threats that would have hobbled its devices and services in the country, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing interviews and internal Apple documents.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
The report revealed Cook personally forged a five-year agreement with the Chinese government during a series of in-person visits to the country in 2016. The need to push for a closer alliance with the Chinese government reportedly came from a number of Apple executives who were concerned about bad publicity in China and the company’s poor relationship with Chinese officials, who believed Apple was not contributing enough to the local economy.
The purported internal documents show that Cook “personally lobbied officials” in China over threats made against Apple Pay, iCloud, and the App Store. He set out to use a “memorandum of understanding” between Apple and a government agency, National Development and Reform Commission, to agree to several concessions in return for exemptions. The 1,250-word deal was written by Apple’s government affairs team in China and stewarded by Cook.
In May 2016, the Apple CEO announced the company would invest $1 billion in the Chinese ride-hailing start-up Didi in an attempt to mollify authorities, the report said. Shortly after, Cook and Apple’s government affairs head Lisa Jackson met senior government officials at Zhongnanhai, the central HQ of the Communist Party, The Information reported.