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China Warns Hotel-Booking Platforms Over Pricing, Exclusivity Practices

By  |  September 15, 2026
China Warns Hotel-Booking Platforms Over Pricing, Exclusivity Practices

Chinese regulators have warned some of the country’s largest online travel and consumer platforms against imposing exclusivity arrangements or pricing restrictions on hotels, signaling increased scrutiny of competitive practices in the fast-growing accommodation-booking market.

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    The State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism called representatives of major platforms to a meeting Tuesday, according to a Sept. 15 report by China Daily. The companies included Meituan, ByteDance’s Douyin, JD, Trip.com Group, Tongcheng and Alibaba-backed Fliggy.

    Authorities instructed the platforms to examine their commercial practices and address potential competition concerns involving exclusive agreements and requirements that hotels provide the lowest available online price through a particular platform, China Daily reported, citing the regulators.

    Such provisions could constrain hotels’ ability to sell rooms more cheaply through competing booking services or other distribution channels, according to the report. The warning puts a spotlight on contractual practices that can give large digital marketplaces significant influence over how merchants set prices across competing sales channels.

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    China’s online hotel-reservation business has grown quickly in recent years, improving convenience for travelers and supporting tourism spending, the regulators said, according to China Daily. Authorities nevertheless cautioned that the industry’s expansion also brings competition risks that require attention.

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    The government agencies urged booking platforms to comply with legal requirements, compete fairly and strengthen their internal compliance systems, according to the publication. Regulators also called for longer-term mechanisms aimed at preventing problematic practices from becoming embedded in the industry.

    The message from authorities was that competition among booking services should increasingly center on service quality and value rather than contractual conditions that could distort the market, China Daily reported.

    The regulatory meeting involved businesses spanning several corners of China’s internet economy. Meituan is a major local-services platform, while Douyin is owned by ByteDance. Trip.com Group and Tongcheng operate large online travel businesses, and Fliggy is backed by Alibaba, according to China Daily’s account of the meeting.

    China Daily did not report any penalties against the companies or say that regulators had formally determined that the platforms violated competition law. Instead, the meeting focused on reviewing practices, improving compliance and preventing competition risks in the online hotel-booking sector.

    Source: China Daily