The transfer deal for TikTok has taken a major step forward after China approved the transaction, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. In a statement following the recent meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, Bessent said the approval was secured in Kuala Lumpur and the process is expected to move ahead in the coming weeks or months.
The TikTok transfer deal has been under close scrutiny for 18 months, after US law passed in 2024 forced the Chinese parent company ByteDance to off‑load its US operations by January 2025. Earlier this year, the US and China reached a framework agreement on the deal in Madrid, pending final terms.
According to the deal’s structure, TikTok’s US operations would be transferred to a group of US and global investors, while ByteDance retains less than 20 % ownership. The executive order signed by Trump on September 25 also covers retraining of the app’s algorithm and placing oversight under US‑based security partners.
Importantly, analysts say this deal clears a key hurdle in the battle for TikTok’s future in the US, but it is not a full finish line yet. Bessent did not detail the commercial or shareholder terms and said the final resolution is expected “in the coming weeks and months”.
This development comes after earlier coverage of a roughly $14 billion deal that would hand a majority stake to American and international investors, rebuild confidence among US regulators, and keep TikTok running while addressing national‑security concerns.
As the implementation phase begins, all eyes now turn to how quickly the deal is executed, how much control ByteDance retains, and how the app’s algorithm and data governance will be managed under the new structure.
