B[The State Administration for Market Regulation discusses the "Meituan Acquisition of Malt Field Equity Case": The follow-up review of this case will be promoted in accordance with the law] On October 10, the State Administration for Market Regulation held a special press conference on "The Effectiveness of the Simple Case Review System for Concentration of Operators". At the meeting, when introducing the public hearing on the "Meituan Acquisition of Malt Field Equity Case", Xie Fang, deputy director of the Second Anti-Monopoly Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said that the State Administration for Market Regulation will adhere to equal emphasis on development and regulation and promote the follow-up review of this case in accordance with the law. Not long ago, the State Administration for Market Regulation held a public hearing on Meituan’s acquisition of Maltfield’s equity. It is reported that this is the first public hearing in the review of concentration of business operators in China. Xie Fang, deputy director of the Second Anti-Monopoly Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said that Meituan’s acquisition of Malt Field’s equity is the first concentration of business operators case in the platform field that does not meet the reporting standards stipulated by the State Council and is required to be declared in accordance with the law, and has received widespread attention from all parties in society. Meituan is the leading online catering takeout platform in China, while Malttian is mainly engaged in delivery aggregation platform services, connecting multiple third-party delivery capacity providers to provide delivery solutions for merchants. In 2024, the combined market share of both parties in China's domestic delivery aggregation platform market will exceed 50%. The State Administration for Market Regulation attaches great importance to this case and conducts review work strictly in accordance with the law. B[Combining Leniency and Strictness to Optimize M&A Supervision, China’s First Platform Centralized Hearing Implemented] On October 10, the State Administration for Market Regulation recently held a public hearing on Meituan’s acquisition of the equity in Malt Field. This is the first public hearing in the field of concentration review in China. It is reported that the combined share of both parties in the delivery aggregation platform market exceeds 50%. Upon review, the concentration may restrict small and medium-sized merchants from independently selecting shipping capacity, crowd out third-party shipping capacity providers, and strengthen Meituan’s market control. To this end, the applicant submitted a conditional commitment plan. In order to ensure objectivity and fairness, the General Administration held hearings based on three considerations: First, it involves the interests of merchants, transport operators, riders and other parties, and opinions need to be fully listened to; second, the mechanism of damage to platform economic competition is complex and requires face-to-face cross-examination and debate; third, it is to explore public hearings and improve the level of legalization of law enforcement. The hearing was held on September 18, and invited representatives from Taobao flash sales, JD.com, flash sales, UU errands, industry associations, merchants and riders, experts and scholars to participate. All parties conducted cross-examination debates focusing on the enforceability of the commitment plan and the protection of rights and interests, and achieved the expected results. In the next step, the General Administration will adhere to equal emphasis on development and regulation, promote review in accordance with the law, protect the rights and interests of small and medium-sized merchants and riders, prevent "involution" competition, and continue to explore a public hearing mechanism. (CCTV Finance) B[Meituan: Will increase the billing weight of overweight, large, difficult to deliver orders such as walking up and down stairs] October 9th, the 2026 Meituan Labor Rules and Algorithm Consultation Symposium was recently held in Beijing. Representatives of front-line riders from all over the country negotiated with the Meituan platform on issues such as labor remuneration, dispatch rules, rest and vacation, labor protection, etc., and signed the "2026 Meituan Labor Rules and Algorithm Negotiation Agreement" on-site. The agreement clarifies that Meituan will increase the billing weight of orders that are overweight, large, and difficult to deliver by walking up and down stairs, and increase income remuneration under special weather conditions; continue to implement the "cancellation of overtime deductions" and continue to optimize mechanisms such as drop-in orders, delivery time limits, and merchant dining time estimates; gradually expand the "red light stopwatch" pilot; promote the implementation of pension insurance subsidy policies to reduce the burden of riders' participation in insurance, etc. B[Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Technology Index closed up 3.06%, with mainland property stocks leading the gains] On October 9, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Technology Index closed up 1.79%, and the Hang Seng Technology Index rose 3.06%. Chinese real estate stocks led the gains, with Shimao Group rising by more than 41%, Sino-Ocean Group rising by more than 22%, and Agile Group rising by more than 15%; star technology and Internet stocks generally rose, with Xiaomi Group rising by more than 9%, Tencent Holdings and Meituan rising by more than 3%; the gold sector rose, Zijin Gold International rose by more than 7%, Zhaojin Mining, Chifeng Gold, and Shandong Gold all rose by more than 6%. Optical communications and PCB concept stocks fell, Guanghe Technology fell by more than 10%, Shenghong Technology fell by more than 6%, and Cambridge Technology fell by more than 5%. B[Hang Seng Technology Index closed down 1.1% and the optical communications sector rebounded] On September 29, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down 0.48% to 24523.57 points, and the Hang Seng Technology Index closed down 1.08% to 4249.62 points. The optical communications sector rebounded, with YOFC Optical Fiber and Cable rising by over 7%, Cambridge Technology rising by 5%, and Zhongji InnoLight rising by over 3%. Heavyweight technology stocks fell collectively, with Tencent and Meituan falling about 2%, and Alibaba falling more than 1%. Automobile stocks fell, with NIO down 5%, Xpeng Group down 4%, and WeRide down nearly 3%. B[Tourism concept fluctuates and strengthens, Shaanxi tourism approaches the daily limit] On September 18, the tourism concept fluctuates and strengthens, Shaanxi tourism approaches the daily limit, Xi'an Catering, Zhongxin Tourism, Huatian Hotel, and Xiyu Tourism follow suit. According to the news, train tickets for the first day of the National Day holiday (October 1) will go on sale on September 17, and the popularity of tourism during the double festival continues to increase. On September 16, Meituan data showed that air ticket bookings for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day increased by 44% year-on-year. A[The State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism held an administrative guidance meeting for the online hotel reservation platform service industry] The State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism held an administrative guidance meeting for the online hotel reservation platform service industry to guide platform companies in the industry to strictly implement their compliance responsibilities, prevent and resolve industry competition risks, and maintain a healthy and orderly tourism market environment.
The meeting pointed out that fair competition is the cornerstone of the rule of law in the market economy, and compliance management is the lifeline of enterprise development. In recent years, China's online hotel booking platform service industry has developed rapidly, playing an active role in facilitating people's lives and promoting tourism consumption. At the same time, competition risks cannot be ignored. As key players in the industry, online hotel reservation platform companies should strictly abide by the legal bottom line, adhere to fair competition, strengthen compliance management, and promote the healthy development of industry standards.
The meeting required that all platform companies must strictly abide by the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, the E-Commerce Law of the People's Republic of China, the Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China and other legal provisions, use the case as a lesson, make comparisons and self-examination, and consciously prevent and resolve "involvement" issues and competition risks such as exclusive cooperation and "the lowest price on the entire network". It is necessary to enhance compliance awareness, build a solid bottom line for compliance operations and safe development, improve long-term compliance mechanisms, jointly create a market order of high quality, low prices, and healthy competition, effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and promote the win-win development of multiple entities within the platform ecosystem.
The heads of platform companies such as Meituan, Douyin, JD.com, Ctrip, Tongcheng, and Fliggy, as well as relevant responsible comrades from the market supervision departments in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places attended the meeting. B[Shanghai Tourism Festival kicks off, Shanghai cultural tourism bookings increased by 15% year-on-year in the past week] On September 12, the 37th Shanghai Tourism Festival parade kicked off, and Shanghai’s cultural tourism consumption continued to heat up. Starting from September 13, some scenic spots in the city have also launched discounts such as half-price tickets to benefit the people. Meituan data shows that Shanghai cultural tourism bookings increased by 15% year-on-year in the past week. From the perspective of tourist source structure, Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shenzhen and Guangzhou are popular tourist source places from other places. In terms of popularity of scenic spots, Shanghai Disney Resort, Shanghai Wildlife Park, Shanghai Happy Valley, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, and Shanghai Legoland Resort rank among the Top 5 popular scenic spots. (The Paper) B[Notice from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Consumers’ Association: 10 airlines and 5 online ticketing platforms have completed ticket overbooking rectification] September 8th, Beijing Market Supervision Official Weibo reported on September 8th that recently, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Consumers’ Association issued a notice on ticket overbooking and rectification stating that as of August 31, 10 airlines that had previously been interviewed Airlines and five online ticketing platforms have all completed the rectification of overbooking tickets on schedule. Outstanding issues in overbooking rule notification, on-site handling, compensation arrangements and complaint mechanisms have been targeted. Consumers can clearly understand the overbooking rules when purchasing tickets, and there are clear solutions and compensation guarantees when encountering overbooking. Previous investigations have found that in the area of overbooking of air tickets, there are problems such as too small risk warning text, hidden locations, and unclear compensation standards. On July 24, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Consumers Association organized a joint interview with 10 airlines including Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, Spring Airlines, and Hebei Airlines, as well as five online ticketing platforms including Tongcheng, Ctrip, Fliggy, Qunar, and Meituan, requiring that rectifications be completed before August 31. BOn September 7, Hong Kong stocks closed at noon, with the Hang Seng Index falling 0.97% and the Hang Seng Technology Index falling 1%. Large technology and Internet stocks generally fell, with Baidu Group falling by more than 5%, Xiaomi Group falling by nearly 4%, and Meituan falling by more than 2%. Optical communications, PCB, and storage concepts generally rose. Cambridge Technology rose by more than 21%, Zhongji InnoLight and Guanghe Technology rose by more than 13%, Kingboard Laminated Board and YOFC Optical Fiber and Cable rose by more than 7%, Montage Technology rose by more than 6%, GigaDevice and Huahong Grace rose by more than 5%. B[Hong Kong stocks opened higher and moved higher, and the Hang Seng Technology Index closed up more than 2%] On September 4, Hong Kong stocks opened higher and moved higher, closing sharply higher. The Hang Seng Index rose 1.74%, a cumulative gain of 0.26% this week; the Hang Seng Technology Index rose 2.27%, a cumulative decline of 0.77% this week. Vanke Group rose by more than 6%, Meituan Group rose by more than 5%, Baidu Group rose by more than 4%, NetEase and JD.com Group rose by more than 3%, and Alibaba rose by more than 2%. Xiyin fell more than 9%, and Huahong Grace fell more than 8%.
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