Trip.com Group is the latest tech giant to face China’s antitrust hammer, hit with a RMB 5.2 billion ($770 million) penalty — the country’s most significant platform fine since it slapped Alibaba with $2.6 billion fine in 2021.
The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said Trip.com Group used traffic-allocation mechanisms, platform rules and technical measures to strike exclusive deals with hotels while pursuing “lowest price across the internet” arrangements. The regulator confiscated RMB 1.66 billion ($250 million) in illegal gains, imposed a RMB 3.52 billion ($520 million) fine, equal to 7.5% of Trip.com’s 2025 revenue generated from Mainland China, and ordered it to refund RMB 122 million ($18 million) in hotel security deposits that had been co
