ByteDance files for China nod to export TikTok tech

Beijing: ByteDance Ltd, the Chinese parent of video app TikTok, submitted an application in Beijing for permission to export technology, as it tries to work out an agreement with the Trump administration that will avoid a US ban on the service.

The company said it filed the request with the city's commerce bureau after China tightened restrictions on the export of certain technologies, including those used in TikTok. A spokesman for the commerce ministry acknowledged the filing on Thursday, saying it'll be assessed "in accordance with the relevant rules and procedures."

China has asserted it would have to sign off on any deal for TikTok, after the White House pressured ByteDance into ceding control over the wildly popular app.


ByteDance worked out an agreement for TikTok with Oracle and Walmart that appeared at first to win President Donald Trump's blessing.

Initially, China seemed likely to approve the TikTok agreement, as long as ByteDance retained control of its technologies. But Chinese state media has voiced increasing opposition to the deal as the Trump administration has expressed demands for more equity in American hands and more control over data and technology.