TikTok owner ByteDance plans to spend billions on Singapore base after US ban

ByteDance, the Chinese owner of video-sharing app TikTok, is planning to make Singapore its beachhead for the rest of Asia as part of its global expansion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Beijing-based company is looking to spend several billion dollars and add hundreds of jobs over the next three years in the city state, where it has applied for a licence to operate a digital bank, said the people, who asked not to be identified because of confidentiality. The investment would come at a crucial time as the technology firm is forced to sell TikTok operations in the US under pressure from the administration of US President Donald Trump.

ByteDance, the world’s most highly valued start-up, is ploughing ahead with plans to take its social media services deeper into Asia after setbacks in India and Britain as well as the US. The internet phenomenon controlled by billionaire Zhang Yiming has long eyed Southeast Asia’s increasingly smartphone-savvy population of 650 million, a region where Chinese tech giants Tencent and South China Morning Post-owner Alibaba Group Holding are also making inroads.

ByteDance currently has more than 200 job openings in Singapore, for positions in everything from payments to e-commerce and data privacy, according to its job referral site. The company already has 400 employees working on technology, sales and marketing in the city state, one of the people said.