Last week, Trump prolonged the deadline after reports indicated that the negotiations to divest TikTok's U.S. assets had been paused.
China had previously signaled its disapproval of the deal following Trump's announcement of tariffs, according to sources.
In response to inquiries about the deadline extension, a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry stated that the country "opposes actions that disregard market economy laws, forcibly seize assets, and undermine the legitimate rights and interests of businesses." This statement was made public on the ministry's webstgite.
Furthermore, the spokesperson noted that "any specific business arrangements must comply with Chinese law, including the export of technology, which requires approval from the Chinese government."
The algorithm that TikTok uses is considered essential to ByteDance's overall operations, and any export of this algorithm is subject to approval by the Chinese government, as stipulated by a law enacted in 2020.