CHINESE social media and e-commerce startup Xiaohongshu, or “Little Red Book,” is putting its U.S. initial public offering (IPO) plans on hold after China tightened rules on overseas listings, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The online platform, backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., is discussing with advisers on alternatives as the company would likely be subject to a cybersecurity review under China’s proposed policy for firms listing abroad, said the people. A listing in Hong Kong could be an option, the people said.

Xiaohongshu, which had filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO earlier this year, was aiming to raise more than US$500 million, one of the people said.

Deliberations are ongoing and Xiaohongshu hasn’t made any final decisions on its IPO plans, the people said.

Xiaohongshu was founded in 2013 as an online community that recommends overseas e-commerce sites for users in China.

It later entered e-commerce and then evolved into a social media platform where users share their daily life moments through videos and pictures on topics including skincare, food and travel.

The platform’s monthly active users breached 100 million as of October 2019 with about 70 percent of them born in the 1990s or later, according to its website. (SD-Agencies)