Video platform helps to put people in the picture

Dangling precariously from a helicopter before jumping to the ground, the policeman quickly pulled out his gun and squeezed the trigger without hesitation. Loud cracks echoed all around and the bullets hit the centers of 10 targets standing 10 meters away. As a volley of gunshots split the air, the crack shot didn't flinch, he just kept moving.

Though visually stunning and intended to set the heart pounding, this is not a scene from a Hollywood action movie, Instead, it is a 36-second video filmed at a shooting range by the Beijing Special Weapons and Tactics team that shows officers undertaking shooting scenarios to hone their skills.

Since May 3, when it was posted on Douyin, a platform for short videos and music, the clip has gained more than 8.67 million likes and about 182,000 comments. Most people expressed respect for the SWAT team's tough training methods and astonishment at its shooting skills.

The soaring popularity of Douyin, known as Tik Tok overseas, has encouraged more than 500 government departments and media organizations, including the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and people.cn, to open accounts as a creative way of providing better services and communications.

In the first six months of the year, government-related video accounts gained more than 1.6 billion hits on Douyin, according to Beijing Byte-Dance Technology, a news and information content provider.