Purbaya Does Not Want Indonesia's E-commerce Dominated by China, Mentions Tokopedia
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa is considering ways to reduce foreign dominance in Indonesia’s e-commerce industry. This is because locally owned e-commerce platforms under foreign control result in money from the online market flowing out of the country.
Purbaya said he has received many complaints about Indonesian marketplaces now dominated by foreigners.
He cited Tokopedia, an originally Indonesian e-commerce company now controlled by TikTok. The Chinese company now operates two online shopping platforms, namely Tokopedia and TikTok Shop. Purbaya is thinking of ways to ensure major marketplaces in Indonesia are controlled locally.
“I’m thinking about how to return the marketplaces. Not just those controlled by China, for example, Tokopedia is fully controlled by China,” he told reporters after Id prayers at the DJP Mosque in Jakarta on Saturday (21/3/2026).
If marketplace ownership is controlled by foreign companies, according to him, the profits flow out of Indonesia. Instead of encouraging Indonesian products and entrepreneurs to digitalise, e-commerce actually opens direct access for Chinese traders.
“How can it be called digitalisation if it’s like that; it seems like giving the market directly to China,” he added.
Purbaya said he is trying to revive domestic companies to compete with Chinese firms in the market.
“I’m thinking of domestic companies that can be revived to become competition against Chinese dominance,” he explained.
ByteDance acquired Tokopedia from GoTo in December 2023. This step was taken so that TikTok Shop could operate again in Indonesia. After the share takeover, TikTok owns 75.01% of Tokopedia shares, while GoTo’s ownership in Tokopedia became 24.99%.
ByteDance invested capital worth US$1.5 billion or approximately Rp23.38 trillion in PT Tokopedia. This corporate action will combine the Tokopedia and TikTok Shop Indonesia businesses under PT Tokopedia, with TikTok having control over PT Tokopedia.
Since the acquisition, the e-commerce company has managed the Tokopedia and TikTok Shop e-commerce platforms. TikTok Shop in Indonesia is ByteDance’s second largest e-commerce business after China and the United States.
The Chinese company was then reported to carry out massive efficiency measures just a few months after the acquisition.
Based on information obtained by CNBC Indonesia from sources in the know, a total of around 420 employees were affected by layoffs in mid-August 2025.
Around 240 workers were laid off in August after the company first reduced 180 employees in July. The workforce cuts reportedly covered several divisions, from information technology (IT), customer care, to order fulfilment teams and warehouses.
This efficiency step was taken amid efforts by TikTok and Tokopedia to strengthen integration post-merger, while facing fierce competition in Indonesia’s e-commerce industry.
TikTok was also once reported to plan to shut down the Tokopedia app. However, the company has denied this news.