SHANGHAI, March 23 (Reuters) - Chinese Commerce Minister

Wang Wentao met the leaders of Apple ( AAPL ) and SK Hynix Inc

, the ministry said on Saturday, ahead of major

business conferences in the coming week.

In the Friday meetings with Apple ( AAPL ) CEO Tim Cook and Hynix

President Kwak Noh-Jung, Wang discussed the tech companies'

development in China, the ministry said in a statement.

Foreign CEOs are visiting for meetings from Sunday to

Friday, including the China Development Forum and the Boao

forum.

Cook opened Apple's ( AAPL ) newest store in Shanghai on Thursday, as

the phone maker battles falling iPhone sales in China and rising

competition from domestic rivals such as Huawei.

Wang told Cook that China-U.S. economic and trade

cooperation is a stabilising force for bilateral relations and

that China was willing to work with the United States to create

a fair, stable and predictable environment for business

cooperation between the two countries, the ministry said.

The Chinese diplomat and Kwak also discussed cooperation in

the semiconductor industry chain between China and South Korea,

the ministry said.