NEWS
BEIJING/WASHINGTON
China has approved the long-awaited transfer agreement for the popular short-video app TikTok, paving the way for a potential resolution to the app’s uncertain future in the United States, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday.
“In Kuala Lumpur, we finalised the TikTok agreement in terms of getting Chinese approval, and I would expect that would go forward in the coming weeks and months, and we’ll finally see a resolution to that,” Bessent said. He did not provide further details on the next steps.
China’s Commerce Ministry confirmed the development in a separate statement, saying Beijing would “properly handle TikTok-related issues with the U.S.” A ministry spokesperson added that China “will work with the U.S. side to properly address issues related to TikTok.”
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, did not immediately comment.
The fate of the app — used by more than 170 million Americans — has been in limbo since 2024, when the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. assets by January 2025, citing national security concerns over data access and Chinese influence.
Earlier this year, former U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order approving the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a consortium of U.S. and global investors. The order declared that the deal meets the national security requirements of the 2024 law and gave the parties 120 days to finalize the transaction. Enforcement of the law was postponed until January 20, 2026.
Under the agreement, ByteDance will retain less than 20% ownership in TikTok U.S., while Americans will hold six of the seven board seats in the new entity. The app’s algorithm — a key source of tension between Washington and Beijing — will be retrained and monitored by U.S. security partners, with operational control resting entirely with the new U.S.-based venture.
However, U.S. lawmakers have expressed skepticism. Rep. John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, warned earlier this month that a licensing deal allowing TikTok’s algorithm to remain tied to ByteDance would raise “serious concerns.”
Despite the political tensions, Bessent’s remarks suggest both sides are edging closer to ending an 18-month standoff that has left TikTok’s massive U.S. user base in suspense.
