Beijing opposes the forced sale of TikTok's operations in the United States and would prefer the app closed in the United States, CNBC reported, citing sources.

ByteDance is in talks to sell TikTok in the US to potential buyers including Microsoft and Oracle after US President Donald Trump threatened to ban the service if it was not sold.

Trump gave ByteDance a mid-September deadline to complete the deal.

However, Chinese officials believe the forced sale will make both ByteDance and China weak in the face of pressure from Washington, sources said on condition of anonymity.

ByteDance told Reuters that the Chinese government has never asked the company to shut down TikTok in the United States or any other markets.

Two sources said China is willing to use the changes it has made to the technology export list to defer any deal reached by ByteDance if necessary.

Chinese FM spokesman Zhao Lijian earlier said that the US is abusing the concept of national security and urged them to stop harassing foreign companies.

Reuters reported that potential TikTok buyers discussed four ways to structure the acquisition from ByteDance.

As part of this, ByteDance can still promote the sale of TikTok assets in the US without the approval of the Chinese commerce ministry.