Beijing opens antitrust probe into Trip.com

On January 14, the market regulator (SAMR) announced an antitrust investigation into China’s biggest online travel agency platform Trip.com for abusing its position of market dominance.

• SAMR didn’t share details on the specific conduct under review.

But: It's fairly clear what the problem is.

• Over the past six months, state media and several local hospitality associations have accused Trip.com of anticompetitive practices.
• A recurring complaint is that Trip.com allegedly lowers hotel listing prices without the property owners' consent to undercut rival platforms.
• Local SAMR branches in Guizhou and Zhengzhou have reportedly raised the issue with Trip.com in recent months.

Now the issue has clearly been escalated.

So what's next for Trip.com? The company could face an antitrust fine – typically below 10% of annual revenue.

• The state could also mandate remedies to curb the practices SAMR deems problematic.

Our take: This regulatory pattern looks a lot like Beijing’s newly announced scrutiny of food delivery platforms for subsidy-fueled price wars.

• In both cases, platforms have been accused of using market power in a competitive race to the bottom on price, hurting merchants in the process.
• It is exactly this involution-style competition Beijing has been trying to stamp out.

The big picture: This isn’t a return to the tech crackdown era.

• But the probe does look like a warning shot as part of the broader anti-involution campaign.