Apple to Launch $300m China Clean Energy Fund

Apple Inc will launch a $300 million clean energy fund in China, the firm said in a statement on Friday, working with its suppliers to invest in renewable energy projects that could power close to 1 million homes in the country. China’s government has made cutting pollution a key priority, putting pressure on local and international firms to help reduce high levels of smog in its major cities and clean up the country’s waterways and polluted soil, Reuters reported. The investment from the iPhone maker, which will be made along with 10 suppliers, including Pegatron Corp and Wistron Corp, over a four-year period, also comes as the United States and China lock horns over trade. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook earlier this year called for calm heads in Washington and Beijing, as the world’s two largest economies have veered toward a trade war and exchanged tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars of goods. Apple has been making a broader push in renewable power.