CNBC:

Apple chief executive Tim Cook met some of China’s hottest app developers and used a Didi Chuxing car to visit Apple’s store in the popular shopping district Wangfujing on Monday, after arriving in Beijing for a charm offensive.

And:

At the Apple store, Cook attended a seminar hosted by Didi Chuxing’s President Jean Lui, also known as Liu Qing, and attended by the founders and CEOs of some of China’s top app providers, including Groupon-like Meituan, picture-editing app MeituPic, news content provider Toutiao.com, culinary app DayDayCook and game developer Tap4Fun.

According to local media, the Apple boss told the app developers that their innovative work was consistent with Apple’s “spirit.”

As a reminder, Tim Cook struck a deal with Did Chuxing President Jean Lui to invest $1 billion in the Chinese Uber competitor.

Tim is definitely playing up this new relationship:

After the seminar, Cook posted two photos of himself and Liu on his official Weibo account and said, “Enjoyed sharing a taxi ride this morning to the Apple Store Wangfujing. Thanks, Jean Liu and Didi Chuxing!”

While it is not clear if the Didi investment will bring its own windfall, there is certainly an advantage to having a champion within the Chinese tech community.