E-commerce firms accelerate push into Southeast Asia

Chinese e-commerce platforms are speeding up their push into Southeast Asia to cultivate new customers and rev up sales, as cross-border online marketplaces have become an important new driving force for bolstering the growth of China's foreign trade amid external uncertainties.

TikTok Shop, the e-commerce marketplace of popular short-video app TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, has already entered Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the company is planning to invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next few years. While TikTok did not provide a detailed breakdown of its planned investments, Chew said the company would provide training and support to small vendors looking to join TikTok Shop.