Apple CEO Tim Cook visits Foxconn plant while on China trip

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, who has been in China this week, continued his trip with a stop at a Foxconn Technology manufacturing plant, a key supplier that has been under scrutiny for work conditions.

Cook’s visited Foxconn’s plant in the city of Zhengzhou, which employs 120,000 people and produces iPhones, on Wednesday, according to various news reports.

Foxconn is one of Apple’s key suppliers. The Taiwanese company is key to the production of two of Apple’s flagship products, the iPhone and iPad, and may soon get in on the production of the future Apple iTV, according to Forbes.

Cook’s trip to China is his first as chief executive of Apple and his first since he traveled to the country to investigate the labor conditions at Foxconn plants after a series of employee suicides back in 2010, according to PCWorld.

The stop in Zhengzhou comes after Cook met with several top Chinese leaders, including Vice Premier Li Keqiang -- who is expected to be the next prime minister -- and Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong.

The trip to China, Apple’s largest market outside the U.S., appears to be intended to improve the Cupertino company’s relationship with the country.

Currently, Apple is facing legal troubles in the country after being sued by a Chinese company, which acquired trademarks for the iPad name in China in 2001. The company, Proview, said it is prepared to slug it out with Apple for the next five to 10 years, according to PCWorld.

“We firmly believe that no matter what effect Cook’s visit has on government relations, Apple’s intellectual property infringement has already reached a final verdict, and that the company must receive the ultimate punishment according to Chinese law,” wrote a Proview company executive in a blog post.

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