WASHINGTON, 31 October 2025 — China has approved the transfer agreement for short-video app TikTok, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Thursday, signaling that a long-awaited resolution to the app’s ownership dispute is finally within reach.
“In Kuala Lumpur, we finalized 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 in an interview with Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria.”
The statement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where both sides reportedly discussed measures to stabilize trade and technology relations.
Beijing Signals Cooperatio
China’s Commerce Ministry confirmed earlier on Thursday that it would “properly handle” issues related to TikTok with the United States, adding that “the Chinese side will work with the U.S. side to properly address issues related to TikTok.”
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, did not immediately comment on the development.
Eighteen-Month Dispute Nearing Resolution
The fate of TikTok’s U.S. operations, used by 170 million Americans, has been in limbo since Congress passed a law in 2024 requiring ByteDance to sell the app’s U.S. assets by January 2025, or face a nationwide ban.
In September 2025, President Trump signed an executive order declaring that a proposed sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a consortium of U.S. and global investors met national security requirements under the 2024 law. The order also extended enforcement of the ban until January 20, 2026, providing time to complete the transaction.
Under the deal:
- ByteDance will retain less than 20% ownership of TikTok U.S.,
- The new joint venture will have a seven-member board, six American directors and one appointed by ByteDance,
- The algorithm will be retrained and monitored by U.S. security partners, and
- Operational control of the algorithm will rest with the new U.S.-based entity.
Political and Security Concerns Remain
Despite Beijing’s approval, the deal continues to face political scrutiny in Washington.
U.S. Representative John Moolenaar, Republican chair of the House Select Committee on China, warned earlier this month that a licensing agreement allowing continued use of TikTok’s algorithm under the new ownership could raise “serious concerns.”
The transaction represents one of the most closely watched cases in the ongoing U.S.–China technology decoupling, balancing national security, data sovereignty, and consumer impact across both economies.
