Beijing Regulator Probes Four Online Travel Platforms Including Fliggy, Tongcheng, Tujia, Meituan

Beijing, China — The Beijing Municipal Market Supervision Administration has launched investigations into four major online travel platforms—Fliggy, Tongcheng, Tujia, and Meituan—over suspected violations of fair competition laws. The move has drawn significant market attention, with all four platforms quickly responding that they will cooperate fully with regulators and implement all requirements.

What the Investigations Target

The investigations focus on practices that undermine fair competition and harm the rights of merchants and consumers. The broader goal is to safeguard the healthy, compliant, and sustainable development of the online travel industry.

Regulatory action is not intended to "cripple" platforms, but to ensure the industry "walks steadily." The timing of this intervention serves to correct course in a timely manner—not to suppress platforms, but to restore fair, orderly, and healthy competition, allowing platforms to channel their capabilities into innovation and service within established rules.

Legal Basis and Broader Context

The investigations are conducted under China's Anti-Unfair Competition Law and E-Commerce Law.

For the online travel sector, this represents both a compliance lesson and a transformation opportunity. Observers note that this regulatory direction aligns with earlier actions taken against Trip.com Group (Ctrip) earlier this year.

The message is clear: normalized regulation of the platform economy applies to all industries, with no exceptions for scale or sector. Technological means cannot serve as a "shield" for unfair competitive practices.

The Ctrip Case as a Precedent

The earlier case involving Ctrip serves as a mirror for online travel platforms. According to regulatory authorities, Ctrip required certain hotels to offer "lowest prices across all platforms," effectively hijacking pricing power. While this may have benefited the platform in the short term, it damaged the broader ecosystem over time:

• Merchants lost pricing autonomy
• Consumers lost choice
• The industry lost innovation momentum

Regulatory Philosophy: Compliance as the Baseline

The purpose of regulation is not to bring down any single player, but to make clear to all market participants that:

• Compliance is the baseline
• Fairness is the prerequisite
• Development is the goal

Only by establishing clear rules and defining boundaries can platform enterprises thrive and the industry progress.

Three Dimensions of Anti-Monopoly Enforcement

A senior official from the State Administration for Market Regulation's Competition Policy Coordination Department previously outlined three dimensions for anti-monopoly work in 2026:

1. Preventive regulation
2. Strengthened enforcement
3. Solidification of platform主体责任 (primary responsibility)

This tiered regulatory approach provides sufficient space while drawing clear red lines, underscoring that the regulatory intent is to improve the industry, not to leave enterprises confused or paralyzed.

Shifting Competitive Dynamics

Over the past decade, the competitive logic of online travel platforms has been "traffic is king." Whoever controls the traffic gateway holds pricing power. Merchants were forced to accept high commissions, mandatory promotions, and low-price引流 (traffic generation), with costs passed down the chain.

However, successive regulatory actions are changing this dynamic. The State Administration for Market Regulation has explicitly stated it will target monopolistic behaviors that:

• Intensify industry "involution" (excessive competition)
• Squeeze development space for platform merchants
• Harm consumer interests

The goal is to promote win-win development among platforms, merchants, and workers, fostering a market environment where quality products command fair prices and competition remains healthy.

Outlook: Short-Term Pain, Long-Term Gain

This shift means platforms can no longer rely on squeezing merchants for excess profits. The future competitive edge will depend on service, innovation, and quality.

While the transition may bring short-term pain, the long-term benefits are clear: when good money drives out bad, and quality pricing becomes the norm, the online travel industry can truly move from "scale expansion" to "high-quality development."

Produced by the "Sanlihe" Studio (Source: Sanlihe)