Social media giant TikTok has entered into a joint venture with Indonesian tech company GoTo to relaunch its online shopping business in the country.

As part of the deal, TikTok, owned by China’s Bytedance, will invest over $1.5 billion in Tokopedia, Indonesia’s largest e-commerce platform.

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In October, TikTok Shop ceased operations in Indonesia to comply with new regulations.

TikTok, with approximately 125 million users in Indonesia, will acquire just over 75% of Tokopedia and integrate TikTok Shop’s Indonesia business.

The partnership aims to promote Indonesian goods and support small and medium-sized businesses.

The move comes after the Indonesian government banned online shopping on social media platforms to safeguard smaller merchants and user data.

Indonesia’s population, with over 270 million people, constitutes TikTok’s largest online retail market.

The ban followed President Joko Widodo’s cautious stance on e-commerce, emphasizing the need for regulations.

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Online retail sales in Indonesia are projected to increase more than six-fold from 2018 to next year, reaching 689 trillion Indonesian rupiah.

TikTok Shop, launched two years ago in Indonesia’s competitive online shopping market, faced setbacks with regulatory challenges, mirroring global scrutiny in the US, EU, and the UK.