Reuters
At first glance, the English and Chinese versions of ByteDance’s website look like mirror images of each other: both feature the same upbeat images of cheerful office workers and a beaming father looking at a smartphone with his young son.
Scrolling down the homepage, however, reveals subtle but significant differences.
The English website contains a section showing Beijing-based ByteDance’s five board directors, four of whom are from the company’s foreign investors, including US investment firms Susquehanna International Group (SIG), General Atlantic and Coatue Management, as well as venture firm Sequoia Capital.
Beneath that section is an organisational chart highlighting the separate overseas entities managing the operations of ByteDance’s hit short video-sharing app TikTok in different markets: the US, Australia, Singapore and the UK.