Beijing's market regulation authority has initiated formal investigations into four prominent online hotel and travel booking platforms, triggering swift public responses from the companies involved. The action was disclosed on September 19th through the official WeChat account of the Beijing Municipal Market Supervision Administration, which stated that the probes follow a national-level work deployment and preliminary verification procedures.
The investigations, conducted under China's Anti-Unfair Competition Law and E-Commerce Law, target Hangzhou Taomei Aviation Services, Tongcheng Network Technology, Tujia Online Information Technology (Tianjin), and Beijing Sankuai Information Technology. Following the announcement, Tongcheng Travel, Tujia, MEITUAN, and Fliggy each issued statements expressing their positions on the matter.
Tongcheng Travel released an official announcement affirming its commitment to cooperate fully with regulatory authorities. The company stated it places high importance on the matter and will diligently implement all regulatory requirements while safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and business partners. The announcement emphasized that all business operations continue to run normally, and the company remains dedicated to enhancing compliance standards and working with industry stakeholders to maintain a high-quality, sustainable market environment.
Tujia likewise expressed strong commitment to cooperating with the regulatory investigation and strictly implementing oversight requirements. The homestay platform indicated it would continue improving its platform governance practices tailored to the unique characteristics of the homestay industry, working collaboratively with homeowners and merchants to foster a healthy and sustainable sector. Current business activities proceed without disruption, with continued service delivery to users and property partners.
MEITUAN's hotels and travel division issued a statement confirming its proactive cooperation with the regulatory investigation and full implementation of oversight requirements. The company expressed its commitment to joining industry partners in building a sustainable market environment for future development.
Fliggy also confirmed its high level of attention to the matter and pledged full cooperation with all investigations conducted by the Beijing Municipal Market Supervision Administration. The platform reiterated its commitment to respecting and maintaining a fair, open, and orderly market environment while continuing to promote high-quality industry development alongside other stakeholders.
On the same day, the Beijing regulator republished an initiative from the China Hotel Association calling for standardized platform competition practices and the establishment of a healthy ecosystem for the accommodation and dining industry. The association's statement revealed that the State Administration for Market Regulation, together with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, had convened an administrative guidance meeting for online hotel and travel booking platforms, with the Beijing bureau subsequently launching investigations into the four platforms.
The association expressed strong support for these actions, highlighting growing concerns about certain platforms leveraging traffic and algorithmic advantages to impose high commissions, mandatory bundling arrangements, opaque data practices, and low-price traffic generation tactics that inflate hidden costs. These practices, according to the association, damage competitive order, harm business interests, and constrain service quality improvements. Additional concerns were raised regarding practices like multiple listings under a single address and shadow kitchens, which affect food safety and consumer experience.
Recognizing that the accommodation and dining industry plays a vital role in stabilizing employment, stimulating consumption, and improving people's livelihoods, the association emphasized that the sector is currently at a critical juncture of transformation. Industry stakeholders urgently need strengthened regulatory enforcement and improved institutional rules to achieve algorithm transparency, standardized fee structures, and orderly competition, ultimately driving standardized and sustainable sector development.
The association issued four key recommendations to the entire industry. First, it urged active support for regulatory enforcement, backing market supervision authorities in lawfully investigating suspected unfair competition and conduct harming business operators' interests, while clarifying rule boundaries, strengthening platform responsibilities, and creating a fair competitive environment for law-abiding enterprises. Second, it called for promoting transparency in platform rules and algorithms, with platforms proactively disclosing transaction rules and key information regarding search rankings, traffic allocation, commission rates, and promotional activities to protect operators' rights to information and fair trade. Third, it advocated abandoning improper competition in favor of value co-creation, encouraging platforms to deepen cooperation with accommodation and dining enterprises in digital operations, standards development, brand cultivation, and membership integration, combining technological advantages with offline service capabilities. Fourth, it emphasized strengthening industry self-discipline and building long-term mechanisms through industry research, platform cooperation standards development, self-regulatory training, and guidance for members to achieve compliant operations and quality improvement, collectively advancing high-quality development of the accommodation and dining industry.
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