China’s Xi meets Zuckerberg, Cook

BEIJING (AFP) — Apple’s Tim Cook and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, state media said Tuesday, as the Communist Party pushes for a larger role in private firms.

The meeting came days after Xi secured his position as China’s most powerful leader since Mao and as Facebook seeks to gain entry to the massive market.

“As a beneficiary of and con- tributor to economic globalization, China’s development is the opportunity for the world,” Xi told the annual gathering of advisers to Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Under Xi, the Communist Party has increasingly tightened its grip on state-owned companies and has asked foreign firms to include party cells in their offices.