TechFlow News, April 29: According to CCTV News, the Office of the Working Mechanism for Security Review of Foreign Investment has lawfully prohibited the foreign acquisition of Manus and ordered the parties involved to rescind the transaction. Manus was initially developed by China’s Butterfly Effect Co., Ltd. After its launch in March 2025, it went viral overnight. In June of the same year, the company relocated its headquarters to Singapore and ceased domestic operations. In December 2025, Meta announced its acquisition of Manus for approximately $2 billion.
Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce’s Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, stated that Manus transferred both capital and corporate operations to Singapore before selling the project to a U.S. firm—a move suspected of deliberately circumventing regulatory oversight. If such practices remain uncontrolled, more companies may follow suit, undermining national development interests and security. Zhou emphasized that China consistently maintains an open stance toward foreign investment but adopts a cautious approach toward sensitive investments involving critical technologies and data security: “Attempting to evade regulation through malicious means will ultimately fail to achieve the intended objective.”
