China reaffirmed that any deal regarding TikTok's sale in U.S. must comply with the Chinese laws, Reuters reported.
The latest development follows the U.S. President Donald Trump extended the deadline for TikTok’s sale by 75 days.
Trump’s decision came after numerous reports suggested that a proposed agreement to spin off TikTok’s U.S. operations was paused.
Following Trump’s revelation of heavy tariffs, China indicated that it would expectedly deny the deal.
Responding to the questions regarding deadline extension, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said that Beijing opposes actions that sacrifice market economy principles.
“Ignore the laws of the market economy, plunder by force, and damage the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises,” spokesperson stated.
While highlighting any export of technology is based on government's approval, the spokesperson stated, “The specific business arrangements must comply with Chinese law.”
TikTok's recommendations algorithm is essential to its Chinese owner, ByteDance’s global operations, adding difficulty to the regulatory approval in any potential deal regarding U.S. sale.
Notably, talks are currently underway with a number of potential buyers interested in TikTok's acquisition in the U.S., including YouTube influencer MrBeast, Perplexity AI and Oracle Corp.
