ItInsightsWorld General View: Qin Shuo and Li Liang Clash Over “ByteDance Time”

Recently, an online argument has revolved around whether China’s Internet really has a “ByteDance time,” with Qin Shuo and Li Liang sharply dividing the discussion.

Qin Shuo’s Reading: The Mobile Top50 Looks Overwhelmingly ByteDance-Led

According to Nomura Securities, citing QuestMobile data, in August 2026 the ByteDance family captured 41.8% of total usage time among the Top50 apps in China’s mobile internet, while the Tencent family captured 28.6%, a gap of about 13.2 percentage points. Qin Shuo, founder of Qin Shuo’s Moments, wrote in a Moments post that China’s Internet usage time consists of ByteDance time, Tencent time, Taotian time, Pinduoduo time, Xiaohongshu time, Meituan time, and many others; he said the ByteDance family has already won more than 40% of the total usage share, and that its share and growth trend are very significant, summarizing this phenomenon as “the ByteDance time of China’s Internet.”

Li Liang’s Reply: The Calculation Is Too Narrow for a National Judgment

Today, Li Liang, vice president of Douyin Group, posted again on Weibo to argue that Qin Shuo’s analysis contains several basic common-sense errors. He noted that Qin Shuo referred to Article 24 of the Anti-Monopoly Law, under which a single operator with a share reaching one-half may be presumed to have market dominance, but the data cited by Qin Shuo put the ByteDance family at 41.8%, not even one-half. Apart from Tencent’s instant messaging, which has kept market dominance because of its relationship-chain moat, Li Liang said, other products are like “banners changing atop the city walls.”

Li Liang said: “I suspect Japan Nomura’s data was provided to the venerable Mr. Qin by others, and the venerable Mr. Qin did not seriously review it. Nomura measured the time allocation inside the Top50 apps, calculated as: the sum of monthly total usage time of a group’s apps included in the Top50 divided by the monthly total usage time of all Top50 apps; it did not calculate long-tail apps, and it did not calculate PC internet time. Many people need to stay online at work, and some WeChat and office software need to be kept open.”

In other words, he added, this is not China’s Internet usage time; it is the usage time of the mobile Top50. Nomura Securities’ report itself noted that it was a “tracked estimate.” Yet, Li Liang said, the venerable Mr. Qin directly inferred a conclusion with a judgmental tone—“ByteDance time in China’s Internet.” Calling him insufficiently rigorous, or even talking nonsense, is not excessive; for this reason, he believes it does not match his earlier true scholar style.

Li Liang also wrote: “Nomura’s statistical method also deserves discussion. If apps controlled through equity participation are included, the total usage time should be the Tencent family’s. Then, following the venerable Mr. Qin’s logic, China’s Internet should be Tencent time, and it has already lasted 20 years and will continue to last. Venerable Mr. Qin, don’t you think it is absurd?”

At the end of the post, Li Liang wrote: “I do not remember which famous person said, we know why you are talking nonsense, you know why you are talking nonsense, you know that we know why you are talking nonsense, we know that you know that we know why you are talking nonsense, but you are still talking nonsense.”

What Remains Contested

The dispute centers on whether a Top50 app-share snapshot can support a broad label for China’s Internet, or whether the debate must account for uncounted PC time, long-tail apps, and shifting competition.