China fines Trip.com $765 million in antitrust case
Why it matters: The penalty targets practices regulators said blocked hotels from listing freely on rival platforms and setting their own prices.
China’s market regulator fined Trip.com Group 5.18 billion yuan, or about $765 million, after finding the travel-booking giant abused its dominant position in the online travel market. The State Administration for Market Regulation said the company used platform rules, technology and traffic allocation to restrict hotel operators’ cross-platform business and interfere with their pricing decisions. Trip.com holds about 56% of China’s online travel market, according to China Trading Desk. Regulators opened the investigation in January. The case adds to Beijing’s scrutiny of large internet platforms and follows earlier antitrust pressure on rivals including Douyin and Meituan.