Chinese livestreamers set their sights on TikTok sales to shoppers in the US and Europe

By ZEN SOO
Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese livestreamers have set their sights on selling to TikTok shoppers in the U.S. and Europe. They are hawking everything from bags and apparel to crystals in hopes that overseas livestream shopping could vastly increase their sales. The livestream e-commerce market in China is forecast to reach 4.9 trillion yuan ($676 billion). this year and popular hosts like “Lipstick King” Austin Li rack up tens of millions of dollars in sales in a single livestream. Boot camps have sprouted up in China to teach livestream hosts how to become better salespeople. But it’s unclear whether their overseas ambitions can be realized given TikTok’s uncertain future in the U.S.