Tim Cook Joins Tsinghua University Board of Advisors

The advisory board of Beijing-based Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management (SEM) has a new member in the person of Tim Cook, Apple CEO, TechCrunch reports. The university is among the top schools in China, and the advisory board’s annual meeting offers “advice on the development of Tsinghua’s SEM”, the group’s mission statement reads.

Tim Cook isn’t the only American executive on the advisory board: according to the university’s website, members include Michael T. Duke, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and Indra K. Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, as well as Terry Gou, Foxconn founder and CEO.

While we don’t exactly know why Tim Cook has joined the advisory board, we do know that since he took up the role of CEO, he has repeatedly expressed the importance of China to Apple. Cook has even visited the country several times to discuss the terms of a potential deal with China Mobile, the world’s biggest carrier.

Since then, rumour has had it that a deal is very close. Meanwhile, the iPhone 5s and 5c have been approved by China’s FCC for China Mobile, and the company is reportedly boosting its 5s production, so everything is set for a big boost in sales in the country.