AsianFin -- Employees working on chip design at ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok, were surprised to learn last week that they are technically employed under a Singapore-based unit, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Many of the engineers are based in Beijing and Shanghai, but they only discovered the arrangement after being reassigned to a new group on ByteDance’s internal messaging platform, two of the people said.

The restructuring highlights how Chinese technology firms are reshaping their corporate structures to navigate intensifying U.S.-China tech tensions, particularly around access to advanced semiconductor technology.

Since late 2023, Washington has tightened export controls, blocking companies based in mainland China from using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to produce high-performance artificial intelligence chips above certain thresholds. The rules have created major obstacles for Chinese firms racing to develop their own AI hardware.