US-China meeting went well, TikTok deal possible: Trump

Washington, Sept 16:  Former US President Donald Trump said on his social media that a meeting between US and Chinese officials went well. He added that a deal was reached for “a certain company that young people in our country very much wanted to save.”

Trump’s comment hints that the company is TikTok, the popular social media platform owned by Chinese firm ByteDance. US law has required ByteDance to sell TikTok or shut it down in the country.

Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline for TikTok. On Sunday, he was noncommittal when asked if a deal had been finalized. He also said he plans to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday. There was no immediate confirmation from China.

TikTok is one of more than 100 apps created by ByteDance, which was founded in 2012 by Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Yiming. The company is based in Beijing’s Haidian district.

In 2016, ByteDance launched Douyin in China and later released TikTok for international users. It also bought Musical.ly, a lip-syncing app popular among teens in the US and Europe, and merged it with TikTok while keeping it separate from Douyin.

TikTok quickly became popular in the US and other countries, becoming the first Chinese social media platform to gain a strong presence in the West. Unlike other platforms, TikTok focuses on personalized content tailored to each user’s interests rather than just connections.

This latest update raises hopes that TikTok may continue operating in the US, depending on ongoing talks between Washington and Beijing.