(Yicai Global) April 23 -- Bytedance Technology, the parent company of online English learning portal Gogokid, has described a reported staff cull at the unit as "losing weight based on performance," according to online media Tencent News.

Rumors on China's LinkedIn-style career and social-networking platform Maimai hold that Gogokid is laying off 70 to 80 percent of its workers and will retain a team of only 200. Gogokid has denied this, saying everything is fine, China Entrepreneur reported yesterday.

Beijing-based Bytedance, which is well known for its news aggregator app Jinri Toutiao and popular short video-sharing platform TikTok, set up Gogokid last May.

Editor: Ben Armour