M.I.C. Gadget reports that  a reporter from a Chinese newspaper  First Financial Daily saw Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook in the lobby of China Mobile’s headquarters earlier today. The reporter was able to take a photo.

This morning, around 10, Apple COO Tim Cook is spotted in the lobby of China Mobile’s HQ, accompanied by 7-8 people. Probably Cook is talking with executives from China Mobile to discuss bilateral cooperation for the iPhone. Both China and America flags are seen in the lobby, and Cook seems to be happy.

The world’s largest mobile carrier is China Mobile  with over 600 million customers, opening a huge opportunity for Apple. Even though the iPhone is available in China, it isn’t available for customers using China Mobile. China Mobile has been interested  in offering the iPhone, but due to a different network standard (TD-SCDMA)  Apple has so far not agreed to build customized hardware capable of running on their network.

Last month, reports came out that suggested  that Apple and China Mobile were nearing an agreement for an iPhone specifically developed for the carrier’s TD-LTE 4G network. If the reporter is accurate about Tim Cook’s spotting, then significant discussions are probably occurring. Cook is currently in charge of Apple’s day-to-day operations and  would suggest that he is directly involved at the highest level.