Tech giant Apple (AAPL 0.64%) has big plans ahead in China in the coming year.

At this point, practically everyone knows about the much-discussed deal with telecom powerhouse China Mobile that's set to go into effect next week. By giving Apple access to a potential consumer base that reaches into the hundreds of millions, the China Mobile deal should clearly be a major growth contributor to Apple this year.

However, Apple also recently opened the doors to another potential growth driver in China.

Source: Apple.

Online and open for business
Apple also recently opened up a new online storefront in the popular shopping site Tmall, an operating subsidiary owned by Chinese e-commerce kingpin Alibaba.

True, Apple already owns and operates its own online store in China. However, as e-commerce sites like Tmall draw scores of China's increasingly online shoppers, this move should help to provide Apple with increased exposure in its most important growth market. These are just two of the key growth initiatives Apple should get under way in China in 2014.

In the video below, tech and telecom analyst Andrew Tonner reviews Apple's recent moves and what they could mean to its shareholders in the year to come.