China’s competition regulator has opened a formal probe into the rivalry between food delivery services run by large technology groups, including Meituan and Alibaba.
The investigation aims to safeguard fair competition and promote a market setting with better quality services and more reasonable pricing. It is being led by the office of the State Council’s anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition committee, China Daily reported.
Authorities are expected to carry out on-site inspections, in-person interviews and questionnaire surveys to assess platforms’ competitive conduct and gather input from merchants, gig workers and consumers.
The move comes as aggressive discounting and subsidy-led tactics have reduced profitability in the sector and added to broader deflation concerns.
Market regulator has pointed to practices in food delivery such as heavy subsidies and repeated price-cutting, arguing that these have put pressure on parts of the real economy and fuelled "involution-style" competition.
Competition has been particularly intense in the so-called instant retail segment, where products including meals, drinks and over-the-counter medicines are generally delivered within an hour.
Alibaba, Meituan and JD have reportedly spent billions of dollars pursuing this growth area.
Meituan reported a quarterly loss in the third quarter last year for the first time since late 2022, and said it expected further losses in the next quarter as continued price pressure weighed on margins.
The delivery units of both Meituan and Alibaba said they welcomed the government investigation and assessment and would fully cooperate, reported Reuters.
The report added that China’s consumer prices in 2025 remained unchanged from the previous year, falling short of the official aim of "around 2%", even after measures designed to address overcapacity and support price stability.
Alibaba was recently reported to be planning to launch a new AI-powered feature to enable restaurants showcase interiors through its mapping and local-services business.
