PANews, July 25. According to CCTV News, the State Administration for Market Regulation has, in accordance with the law, issued an administrative penalty for monopolistic conduct committed by Trip.com Group (hereinafter “Trip.com”) by abusing its dominant position in the market. The total fine and confiscation amounted to RMB 5.179 billion. After investigation, since 2020, Trip.com has abused its dominant position in the online hotel reservation platform services market within China. Centering on its traffic distribution mechanism and using platform rules and technical means, it carried out two types of monopolistic conduct:

First, it requires “special card” hotel operators to carry out exclusive cooperation, as an incentive such as maximum traffic allocation and benefits support, to induce hotel operators with high transaction volumes, good service quality, and strong user appeal to choose “special card,” and also requires them not to cooperate with competitive platforms.

Second, it requires “gold” and “no-license” hotel operators to offer the “lowest price across the entire web,” requiring hotel operators operating across platforms to have their prices on the Ctrip platform be the lowest across the web. It also allows them to adjust pricing directly. If Ctrip finds that a hotel’s price is higher than that of a competing platform, Ctrip will use technical tools and manual means, such as “Price Adjustment Assistant” and “Listing Connect,” to reduce the price. At the same time, Ctrip uses technical means to monitor hotel operators’ exclusive cooperation and compliance with the “lowest price across the entire web,” and ensures implementation of the conduct through punitive measures such as restricting traffic, delisting, and deducting order reserve funds.

Pursuant to Articles 57 and 59 of the (Anti-Monopoly Law), taking into account factors such as the nature, degree, and duration of Ctrip’s monopolistic conduct, the State Administration for Market Regulation, in accordance with the law, has made an administrative penalty decision: it orders Ctrip to stop the unlawful conduct and fully refund the order reserve fund of RMB 122 million that was forcibly deducted from hotel operators; confiscate the unlawful gains of RMB 1.658 billion; and impose a fine of 7.5% of its sales revenue in mainland China in 2025, amounting to RMB 3.521 billion.

In response to the announcement, Ctrip said it sincerely accepts and firmly complies, and will strictly align with regulatory requirements, push forward and implement each rectification step systematically to ensure that all measures are properly carried out. Ctrip will publicly release specific rectification measures to society, actively accept oversight from all sectors of society, and ensure that the rectification work achieves practical results.