BEIJING, March 24 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) is welcome

to continue to deepen its supply-chain cooperation with China,

the head of China Council for the Promotion of International

Trade (CCPIT) told the CEO of the U.S. company on Sunday.

The head of the CCPIT, Ren Hongbin, and Tim Cook also

exchanged views on strengthening China-U.S. business exchanges,

according to a statement from the council published on Monday.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Muralikumar

Anantharaman)