China softens stance on TikTok deal in US as Trump offers 75-day grace period, sources say

Chinese authorities appear to be softening their stance on the fate of TikTok, possibly paving the way for Beijing-based ByteDance to begin talks with American investors, according to people familiar with the matter.

With US President Donald Trump’s recent enthusiasm over striking a deal on TikTok, Beijing is seeing the value of a fair arrangement for the sake of improving the bilateral relationship, said one person who was briefed on the Chinese government’s considerations.

On his first day back in the White House on Monday, Trump signed an executive order delaying by 75 days federal enforcement of a law that requires American firms to stop hosting TikTok unless ByteDance sells its US operations. Trump expressed a desire to give a US entity a 50 per cent stake to keep the app available to its 170 million users in the country.

Trump said he would impose additional tariffs on Chinese imports if Beijing does not approve a deal. “We may have to get an approval from China too. I’m not sure, but I’m sure they’ll approve it,” he said.

The Chinese government has not directly responded to Trump’s request, but China’s foreign ministry has recently softened its rhetoric about a potential deal. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press briefing this week that corporate operations and acquisitions “should be decided by businesses upon market principles”.