Two emblematic moves this week — Meituan’s agreement to buy the China business of Dingdong Maicai for about $717 million and Alibaba’s decision to unify its large-model family under the name “Qwen” (千问) — reveal how Chinese internet giants are shifting from runaway competition to strategic consolidation and clearer go-to-market plays.
Meituan said on February 5 that it will acquire 100% of Dingdong Maicai’s China operations for an initial consideration of about $717 million, with the target’s overseas operations carved out prior to closing. Dingdong, founded in 2017 and once a poster child of the fast-paced fresh-grocery wars, has lately shown improved economics: third-quarter 2025 revenue reached 66.6 billion yuan and GAAP net profit was 0.8 billion yuan, marking its seventh consecutive quarter of profitability.
The transaction is not merely a deal between two companies; it is a marker of an industry that has matured. Instant grocery once relied heavily on subsidies, dense micro-fulfilment infrastructure and fierce city-by-city contests for customers. The purchase lets Meituan absorb a rival that has achieved operating momentum, expand its fresh-grocery footprint and pursue efficiency through scale, while signaling that smaller independents face mounting pressure to either consolidate or specialise.
Concurrently, Alibaba moved to simplify and harden the identity of its AI stack by branding its family of large models under the single Chinese name 千问 and the English brand Qwen. The rebrand consolidates previously overlapping names and positions Qwen as a platform that spans foundational models and specialist domain models, while leaving Tongyi Lab (通义实验室) as the organisational label under the group’s umbrella.
That naming decision matters beyond marketing. With technical parity among leading domestic models narrowing, the competition has shifted toward developer ecosystems, enterprise integration, cloud tie-ups and international recognition. A single, recognisable brand helps Alibaba streamline product messaging, reduce client confusion and push commercial deployments of generative AI across retail, logistics, cloud services and consumer apps.
Both moves occur against a backdrop of rising regulatory scrutiny and strategic national emphasis on domestically controlled AI and digital infrastructure. Meituan’s acquisition will likely face antitrust review; Alibaba’s consolidation of AI assets will be watched for market-power implications as incumbents aim to bundle cloud, data and models. For users and competitors alike, the consequence is clearer: the next phase of China’s internet competition will be defined less by subsidy wars and more by execution, platform integration and regulatory navigation.