(Yicai) Jan. 18 -- ByteDance plans to build research and development centers in Canada and Australia so as to develop its overseas business and better meet user demand, a source close to the Chinese internet giant has reportedly said.

Some of the R&D centers have been running on a trial basis for around half a year, news outlet Jiemian reported today, citing a source close to ByteDance. They will support the Beijing-based firm's overseas businesses, including TikTok, CapCut, and Lemon8, the person added.

ByteDance plans to mainly recruit local employees and send a few workers from other countries to build the R&D centers, the person said. It has sent some engineers from the United States, China, and Singapore to participate in the centers' trials, dispatching 120 product, R&D, and operation personnel from China, he noted.

ByteDance has been rapidly developing business abroad in recent years, according to the report. Its short-video platform TikTok had more than 1 billion monthly active users globally in September 2021, and the video editing software CapCut had over 200 million MAUs last March.

ByteDance has more than 110,000 employees in over 120 cities around the world, with R&D centers in 15 cities in four countries.

Editor: Martin Kadiev