Apple CEO Tim Cook met with China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua on Thursday to consider “matters of cooperation,” a China Mobile spokesperson said, according to Reuters.

“In the morning, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook visited China Mobile’s headquarters. China Mobile’s Chairman Xi Guohua and Tim Cook discussed matters of cooperation,” said China Mobile spokesperson Li Jun in an emailed statement.

The discussion was held in Beijing, where Cook has attended meetings with government officials and visited Apple stores. The talks with potential partner China Mobile seem to “raise hopes” that a deal will come soon, Reuters noted. China Mobile is a huge opportunity for Apple, as it is the world’s largest mobile carrier with over 700 million subscribers.

In an interview with local Chinese media on Thursday, Cook said China would become Apple’s largest market in the near future.

“China has always been Apple’s most important market, is now our second largest market, I am convinced that in the near future, China will become Apple’s largest market over the past year, Apple has been localized products for the Chinese market,” said Cook, as reported by Sina Technology News (translated). “Apple already has 11 stores in the Greater China region, as well as many of our distributors in China, we will continue to expand the number of outlets will be far more than 25 . ”

Cook further confirmed in the interview that a cellular version of the iPad mini would launch in the mainland this month. The Sina report mentioned Apple devices usually take longer to launch in China, but Cook said his company is making strides to reduce the approval time and pledged to tackle the issue.

The report then claimed Cook has come to China at least 20 times since 1996. The CEO professed his love for Chinese culture and even said his in-law is Chinese. It is unclear which in-law he is referring to, as the story cited both “sister-in-law” and “brother-in-law”. Cook seemed to converse about everything from Apple’s roadmap and Apple TV to labor conditions in the country and retail.

A few of the selected quotes are below.

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Cook on Apple’s roadmap (translated):

Cook on Apple TV (translated):

Cook on NFC (translated):

Cook on China Mobile (translated):

Cook on labor conditions (translated):

Cook on Steve Jobs (translated):

For our suppliers, including Foxconn including, we have very strict regulations and codes of practice, if you say they do not adhere to our principles and codes of practice, we do not and they cooperate to terminate the relationship with their partners. Foxconn suppliers, wages and salaries indeed been growth, which occurred just in the past year, in fact, over the past few years have continued to increase. We care about more than just wages, we hope that the Apple company to have a greater impact in China, not just available to everyone a job only.”

Cook on Jony Ives  (translated):

Cook on Apple Retail in China (translated):

Cook on his visits to China (translated):

Go to Sina News for the full transcript.