TikTok exodus to Xiaohongshu: building bridges or buying into Chinese soft power?

The migration of American “TikTok refugees” to another Chinese app, Xiaohongshu (Red Note), is unlikely to revive meaningful citizen-level exchanges between the US and China. Instead, it risks becoming a one-sided narrative tool, shaped by China’s carefully curated self-portrayal.

Key takeaways:

Amidst the looming ban on TikTok in the United States, users have begun migrating to the Chinese app Xiaohongshu, also known as the Little Red Book or Red Note. Previously unknown to much of the Western public, the app has recently experienced a surge in popularity, fueled by a wave of so-called “TikTok refugees.” In the week leading up to the anticipated US ban on TikTok, Xiaohongshu skyrocketed to the top of download charts on App Store and Google Play, garnering over 800,000 American downloads in January alone.

TikTok was deemed a potential national security threat in the United States due to its ownership by the Chinese parent company ByteDance, raising concerns that data collected by the app could be accessed by entities in China. As a result, in April 2024, President Joe Biden signed a bill requiring ByteDance to divest its interest in the short-video platform within nine months or face a ban. While the ban does not make it illegal for users to continue using TikTok, it prohibits internet hosting services and app stores from distributing ByteDance-owned platforms, including TikTok. On January 17, 2025, the US Supreme Court upheld the law, and just hours before it took effect, TikTok went dark and was removed from app stores.

Citizen defiance brings unexpected cultural connections

In an ironic twist, the ban introduced over concerns about data privacy and security has prompted many Americans to openly defy the argument over protection of personal data by turning to another Chinese app, Xiaohongshu. Dismissing concerns, many users have joked about “befriending their Chinese spies” in viral posts on Red Note.

Although the app has been dubbed the ‘Chinese version of Instagram,’ it is more accurately described as a fusion of TikTok, Tumblr, Tripadvisor and Instagram. Originally founded in 2013 by Charlwin Mao and Miranda Qu as a platform for Chinese consumers to share shopping experiences abroad, it has since evolved into a popular app featuring user-generated content on lifestyle, travel, fashion, make-up and beauty, seamlessly integrating e-commerce. Thanks to its quickly growing prominence among China’s middle- and upper-class youth, the platform attracted major investors, including tech giants Tencent and Alibaba, as well as Singapore’s state-owned fund Temasek, boosting its valuation to $17 billion by 2024. Today, the platform boasts more than 300 million users, the majority of whom are women, with half of its users born after 1995.

The influx of American users to the platform has created a rare space for organic interactions with Chinese netizens, leading to unexpectedly candid and often humorous exchanges. Upon joining, Americans were jokingly asked by Chinese users to ‘pay their cat tax’ by sharing photos and videos of their cats. Americans were delighted to stumble upon content featuring Luigi Mangione while Chinese users amused them by roasting aspects of American culture and politics and charming them with compliments on their profile photos. Before long, Americans were helping their new Chinese friends with English homework. Even Li Hua—the fictional Chinese character frequently used in English class exercises for writing letters to American pen pals—finally received response letters from real Americans.

This willingness to engage with the app has even inspired many Americans to begin learning Mandarin. Duolingo reported a 216% spike in US users studying Chinese. Many have hailed this as a significant cultural moment, raising hopes for a much-needed revival of contacts between the people of the US and China, which have been in sharp decline since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic ushered in a wave of strong anti-Chinese sentiment in the US, while rising nationalism in China fueled growing anti-Western and anti-American attitudes. This culminated in the stabbing of four US college instructors in a public park in China in the northeast city of Jilin in June 2024. Meanwhile, the increase in exit bans and instances of arbitrary detention prompted the US government to recommend that its citizens reconsider traveling to China.

These developments have severely tarnished China’s image in the West, making it a far less attractive destination for American students and tourists. According to US Ambassador Nicholas Burns, by November 2024, the number of American students in China had dropped to just 700—a dramatic decline compared to the 15,000 who were studying there six years ago. Before the pandemic, the US ranked alongside Malaysia as the fifth-largest source of inbound tourists handled by Chinese travel agencies. However, post-pandemic, the number of American tourists traveling to China has failed to rebound to erstwhile levels.

Encounters on Xiaohongshu are boosting China’s image

Interactions and cultural exchanges are crucial to preventing misunderstandings and reducing the risks of escalation in bilateral relations. The brief Xiaohongshu encounter between young Americans and Chinese offer hope that, after years of hiatus, ordinary citizens from both countries could once again engage in direct dialogue, helping to diminish growing fear and mistrust on both sides. However, for several reasons, this moment will hardly have a lasting impact on building bridges between the United States and China.

First, it is unlikely to last. The app is available only in its Chinese version, featuring predominantly Chinese content designed to cater to local audiences. While the developers quickly introduced an in-app translation feature, it is highly probable that, once the initial excitement fades, content not tailored to Western users will rapidly lose its appeal. Furthermore, TikTok is not going anywhere, at least for now. When TikTok briefly stopped functioning ahead of the impending ban, the app promptly resumed operations following President Trump’s executive order delaying the ban, even though it has not yet returned to the app stores. While TikTok’s future remains uncertain, there are still several potential avenues to avoid a complete ban.

Even if the American newcomers remain on Xiaohongshu, it is unlikely that the Chinese government would allow prolonged exposure of its citizens to American influence or the free flow of information and unfiltered discussion. Reports of censorship have already surfaced, with some American accounts being blocked. Chinese censors have undoubtedly been mobilized to prevent the spread of potentially destabilizing messages. In fact, Xiaohongshu has begun posting job advertisements for English-language moderators. Additionally, the app’s developers may introduce mechanisms to separate American and Chinese users, curtailing this unimpeded interaction. In a country that restricts its citizens’ access to Western social media platforms, it is unlikely that authorities would permit long-term, unchecked long-term exchanges between Chinese and American users.

Second, the tone of the interactions seems to favor one side particularly, with the United States coming out in an unfavorable light. The dominant narrative gaining traction suggests that Americans are being exposed, for the first time, to an image of ordinary Chinese life that defies their preconceived notions. They are discovering that many Chinese citizens enjoy access to what they perceive as luxury lifestyles, cheaper groceries, and overall more affordable living. Additionally, they have been confronted with harsh criticisms of the American political system, which is perceived by many Chinese as flawed. On the other hand, Chinese users seem to be concluding from these exchanges that everything their government has told them about the United States is accurate—or even worse than they imagined. A widely shared video of a New York subway in disarray, for example, left many Chinese users shocked, reinforcing their negative perceptions of quality of life in America.

However, the dynamic is skewed by the fact that Americans are only seeing a curated slice of Chinese life. Around 84% of Xiaohongshu’s active users live in first- or second-tier cities, highlighting the lifestyles of a more affluent and privileged segment of the population. Meanwhile, while American users often criticize their government openly and without restraint, Chinese users are subject to self-censorship. As a result this interaction seems to be tipping heavily in favor of China, providing an ideal opportunity for an organic charm offensive. For instance, many Americans were astonished by a video of Chinese police warning incoming American users from scams online—an image that contrasted sharply with the poor reputation often associated with American law enforcement. Rather than serving as a bridge for balanced cultural exchange, the platform risks becoming a one-sided narrative tool featuring China’s curated portrayal of itself.

China’s digital soft power projection

The momentum that Xiaohongshu is currently enjoying reflects a more general trend of growing Chinese digital soft power projection. China’s broader efforts to expand its soft power have yielded mixed results. Significant resources have been funneled into initiatives aimed at amplifying China’s global voice, yet the outcomes are mixed. For instance, Chinese state media outlets like CGTN and CRI cannot match the global influence and readership of Western counterparts such as the BBC or France’s RFI. Confucius Institutes, one of the country’s prominent soft power tools, have faced significant pushback and closures in many Western countries.

However, there is one area where China has been quietly yet effectively advancing its soft power—digital technology. Beyond the deployment of 5G infrastructure and the establishment of data centers, Chinese digital products have become powerful vehicles for influence. Social media apps, mobile payment platforms, video games, and news aggregators have all played a role in projecting China’s digital influence worldwide, subtly embedding its presence into the daily lives of millions.

Tencent has emerged as the global leader in the gaming industry by acquiring companies behind some of the most successful games and heavily investing in promising titles, effectively dominating the international video gaming market. Over time, it has subtly begun incorporating elements of Chinese culture into gaming experiences. Meanwhile, Opera, another Chinese-owned digital platform, has largely flown under the radar in the West but has firmly established its dominance in Africa. Originally a Norwegian company, Opera launched its personalized news aggregator app in 2018, targeting primarily Africa and Southeast Asia. Today, the app boasts over 350 million users globally. Beyond news aggregation, Opera also offers other digital services including a microblogging platform and a mobile payment app.

The success of Xiaohongshu highlights that TikTok is just one of several platforms with the potential to raise national security and data privacy concerns abroad. This trend has exposed a vast, largely unchecked digital landscape that includes platforms like WeChat, which can serve as powerful tools for hijacking the information space in the West—particularly within diaspora communities. Moreover, Chinese and Russian state-sponsored content has increasingly infiltrated Western platforms through pro-regime influencers and trolls and coordinated influence campaigns. With Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement to end Meta’s fact-checking program, the barriers to spreading propaganda on these platforms are set to weaken even further.

While it is likely that the presence of Americans on Xiaohongshu and their wholehearted interactions with Chinese users will prove to be nothing more than a fleeting internet moment, other platforms or products may gradually gain global prominence. This expansion provides the Chinese government with opportunities to subtly promote its culture, export its authoritarian surveillance state model, and collect vast amounts of user data from around the world.

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