Ele.me CEO Yu Yongfu told all employees that Douyin’s acquisition of the food delivery participant was “fake” in an internal forum, as the market rumor caused large-scale discussion on the TikTok sister app’s further involvement in the local services sector. “You may feel that my clarification is the most authoritative, so let me respond positively again,” Yu said, while adding Ele.me has seen a strong improvement in efficiency over the past two years. Alibaba’s Local Services Group, which included http://Ele.meEle.me> and split into one of six separate operation units in March last year, reported the third-fastest revenue growth of 16% within six units in the third quarter and has cut its loss by nearly RMB 5 billion. [LatePost, in Chinese]