Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Thursday that the company is planning to open 25 retail stores in China within the next two years,

The news was first reported by Sina.com.

Apple, which currently earns about 15 percent of its revenue in Greater China, has 15 outlets in the country, according to Reuters. The Apple CEO made similar comments Monday on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call.

"We're investing like crazy in the market," Cook said on the call. "When I look at China, I see an enormous market where there are more people graduating into the middle class than any nation on Earth in history."

Cook is currently busy visiting China, where he has toured Foxconn Technology Co's iPhone factory in Zhengzhou and looked at local retail operations.

On Oct. 22, Cook met with China's Vince Minister Ma Kai, where the two exchange views on "protection of users' information" as well as "strengthening cooperation," according to a report by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Cook will next attend meetings at Beijing's Tsinghua University, scheduled to take place on Friday, as a member of the School of Economics and Management's advisory council.

He will be joined there by Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder, and other global business leaders, according to Reuters.

The Apple executive also said the company is cooperating with Chinese firms like Baidu Inc and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, according to today's online transcript.

Cook confirmed that he will meet with Jack Ma, Alibaba's chairman as well. That meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday.

Apple didn't release the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in China until Oct. 17. But Greater China, which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, contributed $5.8 billion to Apple's revenue in the most recent quarter, according to Reuters.

The first Apple Store didn't open up in China until 2008. 

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