# Meituan
Latest news and articles about Meituan
Total: 16 articles found
China’s New Year’s Eve Moves Online: Delivery Platforms Vie for Dinner Orders as Profitability Sours
China’s major delivery platforms have turned Lunar New Year’s Eve meals into a strategic instant-retail scenario, each adopting different approaches: JD focuses on quality and service, Taobao on targeted subsidies, and Meituan on steady platform integration. Operational improvements and riders’ willingness to work through the holiday are underpinning a permanent expansion of festival delivery, even as profitability pressures force more nuanced competition.
Meituan’s High-Stakes Gamble: Heavy Losses, a Fresh‑Food Buy and an AI Push to Hold the Delivery Crown
Meituan disclosed a dramatic shift to an estimated 2025 net loss of RMB 233–243 billion, yet has chosen to intensify strategic investments—buying Dingdong’s China fresh‑food business and upgrading its AI assistant—to protect its instant retail and delivery moat. The move underscores a broader industry turning point from subsidy‑led growth to a capital‑and‑efficiency contest over logistics, AI and fulfilment.
Meituan Warns of Deep 2025 Loss After Price War and Big Push Abroad
Meituan expects a heavy net loss for 2025 after its core local commerce arm swung from large operating profit to an operating loss, driven by intensified domestic competition and increased overseas and ecosystem investment. The reversal has unsettled investors and highlights the tough trade‑off between defending market share and preserving profitability in China’s on‑demand services market.
Meituan Turns Its AI Concierge into a Lunar New Year Sales Engine as Holiday AI War Heats Up
Meituan has upgraded its AI concierge “问小团” for the Lunar New Year to offer verified, transaction‑ready local recommendations and holiday coupons, aiming to convert queries into on‑platform purchases. The move highlights a broader industry push to make generative AI the primary interface for commerce, raising questions about accuracy, merchant obligations and regulatory oversight.
Alibaba’s Taobao Flash Sale Pulls Back on Subsidies — The 2026 Food-Delivery Fight Turns Toward Profits
Taobao Flash Sale has quietly increased commissions and reshaped coupon rules for merchants, signalling a shift from subsidy-driven growth to monetisation. The changes reflect both platform-level unit-economics pressure and Alibaba’s need to reallocate capital toward costly AI infrastructure, and they could reshape merchant economics and consumer pricing over time.
China’s ‘Pork Queen’ Goes Public: Qian Da Ma’s IPO Is a Bet to Rescue a Thin‑Margin Fresh‑food Empire
Qian Da Ma, China’s largest community fresh‑food chain by store count in South China, has filed to list in Hong Kong as it confronts slowing revenue, thin margins and heavy debt. The IPO seeks funds to deepen supply‑chain capacity, refine store economics and resume controlled expansion beyond its southern stronghold.
Maotai Soars as Mid‑Tier Liquor Plummets: How China’s New‑Year Spirits Trade Is Splitting Along Channel Lines
As Lunar New Year approaches, premium Feitian Maotai has seen a sharp price rise and rapid sell‑outs, while some regional and mid‑range baijiu brands crashed after sudden factory releases. Instant‑retail platforms such as Meituan are undercutting traditional alcohol shops, pushing merchants to prioritize cash preservation and minimal stocking over speculative inventory plays.
AI's Bubble‑Tea Blitz: Alibaba's Qianwen Floods Shops with Millions of Low‑Cost Orders
Alibaba’s Qianwen used a RMB 3 billion subsidy campaign to drive an early wave of AI‑powered shopping, triggering more than 10 million orders in nine hours and overwhelming some bubble‑tea shops and couriers. The promotion succeeded at user acquisition but exposed technical glitches, uneven merchant economics and limits in AI recommendations when customers sought novelty.
Meituan’s Defensive Buy: How a 5 Billion‑Yuan Purchase of Dingdong Rewrites China’s Instant‑Retail Map
Meituan’s 5 billion‑yuan acquisition of Dingdong Maicai ends the start‑up’s independent run and reflects a defensive, strategic push in China’s instant‑retail wars. The deal gives Meituan regional market share, warehouses and a curated sourcing capability, but integration risks diluting Dingdong’s locally tuned advantages as the sector consolidates ahead of another likely subsidy‑driven showdown in summer 2026.
China’s Platforms Tell on Restaurants: The End of ‘Underreported’ Revenues for Small Eateries
A June 2025 rule forcing internet platforms to report merchant transaction data, combined with China’s Gold Tax Phase IV, has enabled tax authorities to reconcile platform receipts with restaurants’ declared sales. Small eateries that historically underreported income through cash sales and shared food‑court licensing now face retroactive tax bills, forced licensing, and a surge in compliance costs. The policy aims to broaden the tax base and curb unhealthy price competition but risks short‑term closures and consolidation in the sector.
Meituan’s $717m Bet on Instant Grocery and Alibaba’s Qwen Rebrand Signal a New Phase of Consolidation and Commercialisation in China’s Tech Sector
Meituan has agreed to buy Dingdong Maicai’s China business for roughly $717 million, underscoring consolidation in the instant grocery market now that some players report improving profitability. Alibaba has unified its large-model family under the 千问/Qwen brand to clarify its AI offering and accelerate commercial deployment, reflecting a broader shift from technology race to ecosystem competition.
Markets Recoil: Silver Plunges, Crypto Halves from Peak as Exchanges Tighten Margins; Meituan Buys Dingdong Amid Beijing’s Regulatory Sweep
A sharp cross-asset sell-off saw silver tumble over 20% and bitcoin drop below $65,000, prompting exchanges to raise margin requirements. The turmoil coincided with geopolitical tensions as US and Iranian delegations prepared to meet in Oman, and with Chinese domestic moves including Meituan’s planned purchase of Dingdong and regulatory action against a financial influencer.