Short video company Kuaishou Technology is renewing its focus on the global market, with chief executive Cheng Yixiao taking direct charge of the international business amid a reorganisation of the unit. The Beijing-based company said it established a new unit within the overseas department to better monetise its user base outside China, while the executive in charge of overseas business, Chou Guangyu, has resigned for personal reasons. In November, Kuaishou announced that it was “testing the waters with trial runs in live streaming virtual gifting and advertising in overseas markets”. Since being appointed CEO in October last year, Cheng has spent much of his time and energy on international business, according to a person familiar with the matter. Fight for the short attention span heats up among China’s video apps The latest changes come at a time when the company is seeking to reduce its losses and better monetise its user base. Net losses in the third quarter shrank 76 per cent to 7.1 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion), in line with the 7 billion yuan the company lost in the second quarter. The company is due to report its fourth quarter results by the end of this month. On Monday, Kuaishou released its first transparency report for its international business, saying it removed more than 12 million videos from its short video apps Kwai and SnackVideo in the second half of 2021. SnackVideo in Indonesia and Kwai in Brazil launched successful campaigns to fight “fake news” and disinformation about Covid-19, the company said. Kuaishou operates in a highly competitive market dominated by ByteDance, the owner of TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin. TikTok has found itself at the centre of geopolitical tensions since 2020, when former US president Donald Trump threatened to ban the app on national security grounds, and again this year with its delicate balancing act to comply with varying requirements from Brussels, Moscow and Beijing over content related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Louis Vuitton fashion show sees big interest on ‘unstylish’ Kuaishou Domestically, Kuaishou is still struggling to attract new users. Earlier this month, the company staged a promotion outside a popular shopping area in Beijing, where passersby were offered a free Starbucks mug if they downloaded the app. New sign-ups who spent one minute a day scrolling through videos in the coming week would receive gifts, such as laundry detergent, shipped directly to their home. Cheng said in November that Kuaishou was expecting “to lower the maintenance cost per [daily average user] by enhancing advertising efficiency, improving retention rates, as well as refining operational management”.