Interest in the genre of conversations at the Clubhouse has emerged from ByteDance executives, including CEO Zhang Yiming, while talking about TikTok in one of the service rooms; one source told Reuters. There are no details about the features of the planned service yet.

Since the blocking of Clubhouse in China in February, many other developers from the Middle Kingdom have begun to create their own versions of the application. Even Xiaomi last week updated its Mi Talk app with invite-only login and reorienting it to professionals.

Another Beijing-based company, Inke Ltd, famous in China for its online streaming platforms, has also tried to launch a similar app called Duihuaba, which has gained popularity. This is due to the influx of celebrities, fashion critics, and venture capitalists into the service. However, a month after the launch, its work was suspended, as, according to Inke Ltd, the software needs improvement.

In 2013, Lizhi was released in China, targeting gamers. The application, like everyone else from the Middle Kingdom, requires registration by the real name. According to Lizhi CEO Marco Lai himself, this is a key requirement of local government regulators.

Like all other apps, ByteDance’s Clubhouse counterpart will be subject to local data processing regulations. The release date and other details about the development are currently unknown. But we can almost certainly say that, at least for the first time, the analog of Clubhouse from the creators of TikTok will be focused exclusively on China.