China has given the green light to the transfer agreement for the popular short video platform TikTok, announced US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He expressed optimism that the deal would progress in the upcoming weeks and months, although specific details were not disclosed.
Bessent mentioned finalizing the TikTok agreement in Kuala Lumpur after President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He anticipated a resolution to the matter in the near future, indicating potential alignment between Washington and Beijing on the transition of TikTok to new US ownership.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry also confirmed the approval, stating its commitment to handling TikTok-related issues with the US in a proper manner. TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance and utilized by approximately 170 million Americans, has faced uncertainty for over 18 months due to regulatory requirements.
President Trump’s executive order from September 25 endorsed the proposal to sell TikTok’s US operations to a consortium of American and global investors, citing compliance with national security laws. The order allowed a 120-day window for the transaction to be completed and extended the enforcement deadline to January 20, 2026.
The agreement entails ByteDance retaining a minority stake in TikTok US, with the majority of board seats held by Americans. The core algorithm, crucial for TikTok’s content dissemination, will be retrained and operated under US oversight to ensure national security standards are met.
Trump hailed the arrangement as beneficial for free markets and American ingenuity, while concerns persist among lawmakers regarding potential control by ByteDance through the algorithm’s licensing structure.