Beijing intends to cooperate with the US in resolving the issue of TikTok ownership. This was announced by China's Ministry of Commerce after talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Busan, South Korea.
„The parties also confirmed the results of the Madrid trade consultations, with the US making positive commitments in areas such as investment, and China agreeing to properly handle the TikTok issue with the US,“ the ministry's website said.
On September 25, Trump signed an executive order approving a deal that will transfer control of Chinese social media platform TikTok in the US to a US entity. According to the order, US citizens will hold the largest stake and control in the new entity. The Chinese company ByteDance will receive a stake of less than 20%, and the rest will be held by “specified investors“. The specific investors were not named. The company will be governed by a new board of directors under rules “that will ensure the proper protection of American information“ and the security of the United States. The new company will be valued at approximately $14 billion.
The law requiring ByteDance to sell the social network or cease its operations in the United States was signed in 2024. by former US President Joe Biden. Trump expressed his sympathy for the platform, as its users' votes contributed to his presidential victory. After taking office on January 20, 2025, he signed an executive order to postpone the blocking of the platform in the United States. He subsequently extended this postponement multiple times, the last time on September 16. The blocking of the social network in the US was postponed until December 16. In September, Trump announced that a "group of very large companies" wanted to acquire TikTok and announced preliminary agreements with the Chinese side.