Chinese state media are portraying ongoing TikTok negotiations as a mutually beneficial step after years of rejecting U.S. demands that the app’s Chinese owner sell its American operations. In a phone call, President Xi Jinping signaled support for a commercial deal, while President Trump described “progress” and confirmed the two leaders will meet at a summit next month.

Analysts say Beijing may view TikTok as a low-cost concession to gain leverage on bigger issues such as tariffs, technology, and Taiwan.

“Chinese officials have let the issue fester for years, holding it in reserve as a problem they could one day solve to defuse pressure from Washington,” Dimitar Gueorguiev, associate professor of political science, tells the New York Times. “A deal now costs Beijing less than when negotiations started, while still yielding the maximum optics of compromise.”

In the NBC News article, “Trump says call with China's Xi on TikTok was 'productive' and he plans to visit China next year,” Gueorguiev says, “TikTok is, I think, a less valuable bargaining chip from the Chinese perspective, and an easier concession. On the other hand, for the United States, it’s as visible and kind of politically salient as ever.”

Gueorguiev was also quoted in the Associated Press article, “Trump extends TikTok shutdown deadline for fourth time after reaching framework deal with China.” The prolonged negotiations between the U.S. and China over TikTok might ultimately mean little as its novelty has “slowly faded,” says Gueorguiev. 

“The U.S.–China deal on TikTok may look like a breakthrough, but it risks being a Pyrrhic victory,” he says. “Its famous algorithm, once seen as uniquely powerful, has lost much of its mystique—copycat efforts show that the secret was not the code itself but TikTok’s early-mover advantage and network effects. Any U.S. buyer is therefore purchasing market share and user base, not transformative technology.”