SHANGHAI, March 20 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) CEO Tim

Cook said he is currently visiting Shanghai, according to a post

on his Weibo account on Wednesday.

Cook said he spent the morning walking along Shanghai's

historic Bund river with Chinese actor Zheng Kai and having a

local breakfast but did not disclose what other plans he had for

this China visit.

His visit comes after the iPhone maker announced that it

would open a new retail store in the heart of the Chinese

financial hub on Thursday, and as Apple ( AAPL ) battles falling iPhone

sales in China and rising competition from domestic rivals such

as Huawei.

Cook made at least two visits to China, Apple's ( AAPL )

third-largest market by revenue, last year. He also travelled to

Beijing around the same time last year, where he visited an

Apple ( AAPL ) store and attended the China Development Forum.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom and Brenda Goh in Shanghai;

Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)