This morning, Patently Apple posted a report titled "Between an Economic Slump and resurrection of Huawei Smartphone popularity, Apple's iPhone sales are reportedly stuttering in China."

Tonight we're learning that Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook showed up at a Tencent gaming tournament in China, an endorsement for one of the biggest earners on the app store.

The chief executive officer waved and made brief remarks to shoppers and staff during a surprise visit to Apple’s Taikoo Li store in the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu, according to a brief video posted on the social media platform Weibo. Cook thanked gamers who were vying for the top prize in Honor of Kings, Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s longest-running cash cow.

“The energy tonight was off the charts!” Cook wrote in a brief post in English and Chinese. It included video of fans playing the game, which was developed by Tencent’s TiMi studio.

Cook’s personal outing underscores the country’s importance to Apple, its biggest international market and the cornerstone of its manufacturing network. He’s also showing up at a time the US is ramping up sanctions to contain China’s semiconductor ambitions. For more, read the full Bloomberg report.

Apple's CEO may also be in China to talk to Chinese officials about a variety of matters including the government's recent demand for developers to show proof of licence for sales on Apple's Chinese App Store and more.