TikTok parent ByteDance forms JV with a Chinese state media

ByteDance Inc., the owner of TikTok, started a joint venture with a state-owned Chinese media group to develop business lines, including artificial intelligence and blockchain.

A unit of ByteDance has 49% of the new firm, which has registered capital of 10 million yuan ($1.4 million); Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper Co. owns the rest, according to a statement on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, an official business registration website.

Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper is the operator of The Paper.cn, a popular digital news outlet. The joint venture began on Dec. 10 in Jinan city, the capital of eastern China's Shandong province, according to the statement.

Under the latest deal, Beijing Liangzi Yuedong Technology Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ByteDance, will own 49% of the new company, Pengpai Audiovisual Technology (Jinan) Co Ltd, with Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper Co Ltd holding the remaining 51% majority stake, the documents from the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System showed.

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Shandong-based Pengpai Audiovisual was established on Dec. 10 with a registered capital of 10 million yuan, according to the documents. Pengpai is the Chinese name of ThePaper.cn, an online newspaper published by Shanghai Dongfang.

ByteDance's TikTok platform has become popular with U.S. teenagers and drawn stars like Ariana Grande and Katy Perry, but the company's ties with Chinese authorities have faced scrutiny in recent weeks amid a U.S. national security panel's inquiry into the safety of the personal data it handles.

"The joint venture will focus on partnership in the digital rights of short videos," a ByteDance spokeswoman said in response to Reuters inquiries about the deal.

(with inputs from Reuters)