Apple plans to open its first research and development centre in China later this year, the latest in a series of steps to bolster its presence in a vital region amid a slowdown in sales.

苹果(Apple)计划今年晚些时候在中国设立其首家亚太研发中心。在销售放缓的背景下，苹果采取了一系列措施来支撑它在这个关键地区的业务，设立研发中心之举是其中的最新举措。

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, revealed the plans to increase its investment in local R&D during a meeting with China’s executive vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, this week. The move comes after Apple reported revenues fell by a third in the last quarter in Greater China, where Apple faces growing competition from local smartphone makers such as Huawei and Oppo, as well as tougher economic conditions.

本周在与中国国务院负责常务工作的副总理张高丽会晤时，苹果首席执行官蒂姆•库克(Tim Cook)披露了在华增加研发投资的计划。苹果财报显示，上季度该公司在大中华区的营收减少了三分之一。在大中华区，苹果面临华为(Huawei)和Oppo等本土智能手机生产商构成的日益激烈的竞争，当地的经济形势也更加严峻。

The new R&D centre will be made up of both new and existing staff. Apple already has around 9,000 staff in China, around half of which work in its 42 retail stores there. In the last four years, Apple has doubled the number of corporate offices in China to 45, reports Tim Bradshaw in San Francisco.

这家新研发中心所需的人手将来自新招募的员工和现有员工。目前，苹果在华已拥有约9000名员工，其中约一半在苹果的42家零售店工作。过去四年里，苹果中国办事处的数量将近翻了一番，达到45个。

“We look forward to expanding our operations in China with a new research and development center as we continue to grow our talented team here,” an Apple spokesman said, without specifying the scale of its staffing or financial investment in the effort.

“我们期待通过一家新的研发中心扩大在华业务，我们会继续发展我们在中国的人才队伍，”苹果一名发言人表示。该发言人未说明这项努力所牵扯到的人员和资金投入的规模。

“The centre will open later this year, bringing together our engineering and operations teams in China as we develop advanced technologies and services for our products, both for our customers in China and around the world,” Apple added.

“这家中心将在今年晚些时候设立，把我们在中国的工程团队和运营团队汇聚到一起，我们在为我们的产品开发先进的技术与服务——既是为了中国客户，也是为了全球客户，”苹果补充道。

Even as revenues slide, Apple is hiking its investment in future products and international expansion. Last month, Apple revealed a 26 per cent increase in its quarterly R&D spend to $2.6bn, a record 6 per cent of revenues. Its annual R&D spending is now approaching $10bn.

尽管营收呈现下滑，苹果仍在增加对未来产品和国际扩张的投资。上月，苹果披露称，其季度研发支出增加了26%，达到26亿美元，相当于营收的6%——这一水平创下了纪录。目前，苹果的年研发支出接近100亿美元。

In May, Apple made a $1bn investment in Didi Chuxing, a Chinese driver-hailing service – an unusual move for a company that has typically favoured much smaller deals. As well as providing a strategic partnership as a secretive Apple team works on developing its own car, the deal was widely seen as an attempt to build goodwill with the Chinese government after a series of setbacks in the region.

今年5月，苹果对中国的一款叫车服务“滴滴出行”(Didi Chuxing)投资了10亿美元——对于一家通常喜欢规模小得多的交易的公司而言，这是一次非同寻常的举动。人们普遍认为，此举除了是为了在一个秘密的苹果团队努力研发苹果汽车之际打造一种战略合作关系，还是为了在苹果于该地区遭遇一系列挫折之后与中国政府建立友好关系。

Earlier this year, Apple’s iTunes movies and iBooks services were blocked in China as part of a wider crackdown on foreign content. Apple also lost a patent case in Beijing that threatened to block sales of the iPhone 6.

今年早些时候，随着中国对外国出版物展开大范围的打压，苹果的iTunes影片和iBooks服务在中国遭到屏蔽。苹果还在北京输掉了一场专利官司，可能会导致iPhone6在北京市场被禁售。

“The new center is also aimed at strengthening relationships with local partners and universities as we work to support talent development across the country,” Apple said.

“新的研发中心也是为了在我们努力支持中国各地人才发展的同时，巩固我们与中国当地合作伙伴以及大学之间的关系，”苹果表示。

In last month’s earnings call, Mr Cook stressed the “long-term opportunity” in China, where sales grew 55 per cent to $40bn during the first three quarters of Apple’s fiscal year.

在上月的财报电话会议中，库克强调了中国的“长期机遇”。在本财政年度的头三个季度，苹果在大中华区的销售额增长了55%，达到400亿美元。

Revenues from its books and movies stores in China were “less than $1m” before they were blocked, he added.

库克补充道，苹果的图书和影片遭屏蔽前，这两项内容在中国的营收“不足100万美元”。