TIKTOK owner ByteDance Ltd. is working to ensure it complies with data security requirements before going public after meetings with China’s government officials over the issue earlier this year, people familiar with the matter said.

The Chinese tech giant, whose apps also include TikTok’s Chinese twin Douyin and the news aggregator Toutiao, had kicked off initial preparations for an initial public offering (IPO) of its domestic assets.

Yet ByteDance has been proceeding cautiously given recent regulatory changes in China, the people said, even before the IPO of Didi Global Inc. in New York.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the March meetings with regulators and added that ByteDance had put its intentions to go public on hold indefinitely. But the company has not “shelved” its IPO plans and had not decided on specific timing, two of the people said.

ByteDance meets regularly with regulators about a range of issues, including data security, and the March discussions were part of that ongoing process, according to one person. Founder Zhang Yiming did not attend the March meetings, the person said. A ByteDance representative declined to comment.

Companies seeking to raise capital in overseas markets are now facing greater scrutiny, after China on Saturday proposed new laws that will require virtually all firms heading for an IPO outside of China to undergo a cybersecurity review.

Didi had gone ahead to list in New York in June, even though the Wall Street Journal last week reported regulators asked it as early as three months ago to delay the debut.

In its report, the Wall Street Journal said regulators never called outright for a delay to ByteDance’s possible share offering, but they were concerned about data-security compliance by its apps in China. (SD-Agencies)