(Yicai) Jan. 16 -- Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, has not opened registration to international users, according to informed sources.

Douyin complies with relevant laws and regulations and requires real-name identity verification for registration, The Paper reported, citing sources.

Recent social media rumors claimed that Douyin had started allowing international users to register on its site and opened its content to accounts with internet protocol addresses in Russia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

TikTok is expected to be banned in the US from Jan. 19 if its owner ByteDance does not sell the short-video platform. As a result, many users with IP locations overseas recently started turning to Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media and e-commerce platform likened to Instagram and known as RedNote overseas.

Xiaohongshu jumped to the first from 209th spot on the US App Store within a week, according to the latest rankings. Over the past year, it had only reached as high as 24th.

However, there may still be hope for TikTok in the US. China Central Television reported today, citing informed sources, that US President-elected Donald Trump is considering issuing an executive order after taking office to delay the ban by 60 to 90 days.

Trump has more than 14 million followers on TikTok.

Editor: Futura Costaglione