Apple has agreed to allow the Chinese government to inspect the devices it sells in the country. The effort is seen a move to alleviate concerns of the Communist authorities that customer and government users’ privacy could be compromised. Apple CEO Tim Cook was personally involved in the talks with the head of the Chinese State Internet Information Office.

Lu Wei, the Office’s director, first met with Cook last year to express concern over so-called “backdoors” in Apple’s iOS software that could be exploited by foreign governments or third parties to collect data surreptitiously. Lu demanded that Apple submit to network safety inspections despite Cook’s assurances that Apple did not have any backdoors, Slashgear reported.

Among the iOS features suspected as posing a national security threat were Frequent Locations, according to a report on China Central Television last year, which also implied it could expose state secrets. The Chinese government has aligned Apple with the cyber-spying efforts carried out by the National Security Agency.

The agreement was first reported by The Beijing News.

China is one of Apple’s most promising emerging markets and the company is clearly looking to curry favor to ensure the government doesn’t stand in the way. The Mountain View, Calif., company is planning to open five new retail stores in China over the five weeks, according to MacRumors. Apple has been promoting the grand openings by making retail head Angela Ahrendts available for interview by Chinese media. Apple has also commissioned famed calligrapher Wang Dongling to design a mural for forthcoming West Lake store in Hangzhou.