The Chinese government has acquired stakes in Chinese entities owned by tech giants ByteDance and Sina Weibo, reports Reuters. The news comes amid a widening regulatory crackdown on the industry.
WangTouZhongWen (Beijing) Technology, which is owned by three Chinese state entities including a fund backed by China’s main internet watchdog, has a 1% stake in Beijing ByteDance Technology, according to shareholder data from the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.
The stake gives Beijing a board seat at the subsidiary which holds some of the business licenses covering Douyin and Toutiao, some of ByteDance’s most popular domestic apps, a Reuters source familiar with the matter said.