ByteDance is in active talks with the Trump administration over a way of keeping TikTok active in the US without selling it, one of the Chinese company’s board members has said.

The comments by William Ford, an American businessman, are the first by a ByteDance board member since Trump took office last week.

They reflect ByteDance’s efforts to maintain services to TikTok’s 170 million US users in the face of a law passed last year that requires the company to divest TikTok’s US operations or face a ban in the country.

Ford said he was optimistic ByteDance could find a solution that addresses the US’ national security concerns without requiring a sale, according to a report by Chinese magazine Caixin.

‘Change of control’

The comments were made on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Caixin said.

Ford, chairman of ByteDance shareholder General Atlantic, told the outlet the exploration of non-sale options is key to ByteDance’s discussions with the Trump administration, while such engagements with the Biden administration had been minimal.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV, he said alternatives could include “a change of control of some kind” locally to comply with US legislation.

He told Bloomberg TV that he hoped dialogue between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping could “help create a much more constructive environment, a much higher level of engagement that could lead to a positive solution”.

TikTok temporarily suspended service in the US for several hours ahead of a 19 January deadline for the ban to take place, but restored service after Trump said he planned to extend the deadline.

In an executive order last week Trump shifted the deadline forward 75 days, expressing a desire to give a US entity a 50 percent stake in the app to keep it available in the country.

Bilateral talks

He said last week that he had discussed TikTok in a phone call with Xi on the Friday before taking office.

Chinese authorities appear to be softening their stance on TikTok, which may allow ByteDance to begin talks with US investors, possibly in an effort to improve bilateral relations with the US, local media in China reported last week.

Some prominent Republicans have continued to take a hard line on TikTok, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling ByteDance’s ownership “a very dangerous thing” and calling for the law to be enforced.

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who has been a vocal supporter of the ban, listed on social media the state and federal agencies, and private entities, that might be willing to go to court to get the ban enforced.