TikTok's Parent Firm Partners With Chinese State Media to Work on Blockchain

Beijing Liangzi Yuedong Technology Co Ltd, a subsidiary of ByteDance would have a 49% stake in the venture while the rest 51% would be owned by Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper group, showed National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System showed. The joint venture was registered on 10th December with a net capital of 10 million Yuan.

ByteDance became one of China's fastest-growing startup due to the success of the TikTok social media app. The app is currently placed 2nd on Apple's App Store with 500 million downloads. similarly, the app has garnered a ton of popularity in India as well.  The startup has done a series of partnerships with the state-owned media houses, which is not a surprise given the Chinese government is known for having control over companies originating from the country.

The leading telecom and mobile device producer Huawei was recently blocked by the US from using the services of American tech companies like Google, in light of Huawei's deep relations with the government. Although these firms decline any association with the centre, several investigations have shown otherwise.

China at the Forefront of Blockchain Adoption

China has accelerated its adoption for blockchain technology, in a bid to become the market leaders right after the President's call. Ever since the announcement, the state-run media houses have started to bombard citizens with numerous articles on blockchain and its advantages. While it is still unknown on how ByteDqance is planning to use blockchain and AI to its advantage, but many have speculated that they might use it to provide better reach to the original content and root out deep fake videos.