Chinese short video app Kuaishou renews overseas push with CEO taking lead amid reorganisation
- The Kuaishou executive in charge of the overseas business, Chou Guangyu, has resigned for personal reasons
- The latest changes come at a time when the company is seeking to reduce its losses and better monetise its user base
Short video company Kuaishou Technology is renewing its focus on the global market, with chief executive Cheng Yixiao taking direct charge of the international business amid a reorganisation of the unit.
The Beijing-based company said it established a new unit within the overseas department to better monetise its user base outside China, while the executive in charge of overseas business, Chou Guangyu, has resigned for personal reasons.
In November, Kuaishou announced that it was “testing the waters with trial runs in live streaming virtual gifting and advertising in overseas markets”. Since being appointed CEO in October last year, Cheng has spent much of his time and energy on international business, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The latest changes come at a time when the company is seeking to reduce its losses and better monetise its user base. Net losses in the third quarter shrank 76 per cent to 7.1 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion), in line with the 7 billion yuan the company lost in the second quarter. The company is due to report its fourth quarter results by the end of this month.
On Monday, Kuaishou released its first transparency report for its international business, saying it removed more than 12 million videos from its short video apps Kwai and SnackVideo in the second half of 2021.
SnackVideo in Indonesia and Kwai in Brazil launched successful campaigns to fight “fake news” and disinformation about Covid-19, the company said.
Kuaishou operates in a highly competitive market dominated by ByteDance, the owner of TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin.