China Orders Online Hotel Platforms to Stop Exclusive Deals and Price Wars

Two Chinese regulatory agencies—the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism—have jointly summoned online hotel booking platforms for administrative guidance. Authorities instructed travel platforms to conduct self-inspections and curb destructive competition practices, highlighting exclusive cooperation agreements and mandatory 'lowest price across the internet' clauses. Citing the Anti-Monopoly Law, Anti-Unfair Competition Law, E-Commerce Law, and Tourism Law, regulators emphasized the need for fair competition, compliance mechanisms, and protection of consumer and merchant rights across the online travel sector.

Online travel agencies intermediate billions of dollars in consumer lodging and provide critical revenue pipelines for millions of hoteliers and hospitality operators. Enforcing bans on exclusive agreements and forced lowest-price parity aims to alleviate destructive price undercutting, preserve operating margins for independent hotels, and establish a market environment driven by service quality rather than algorithmic coercion.

China's market and tourism regulators have held a joint administrative guidance session targeting the online hotel booking sector, ordering platform operators to eliminate unfair competition practices such as exclusive contracts and forced lowest-price commitments. The meeting, convened jointly by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, directed major platforms to strictly fulfill their corporate compliance responsibilities, resolve emerging competition risks, and safeguard an orderly tourism market, according to official statements carried by state media. Authorities acknowledged that online hotel reservation platforms have expanded rapidly in recent years, playing an active role in facilitating daily life and stimulating travel consumption. However, regulators noted that competitive risks in the sector cannot be overlooked, warning that dominant booking platforms must adhere to legal baselines and implement sound internal compliance systems. Regulators explicitly instructed platform companies to review their practices against four key statutes: the Anti-Monopoly Law, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, the E-Commerce Law, and the Tourism Law. Firms were urged to learn from past regulatory enforcement cases and carry out comprehensive internal inspections. In particular, regulators demanded that platforms voluntarily resolve issues driving excessive market 'involution'—specifically citing exclusive cooperation mandates that bar hotels from listing on rival channels, as well as demands for 'lowest prices across the web' that squeeze hotel margins. The agencies urged platforms to build long-term compliance frameworks, foster fair market pricing, protect the legal rights of consumers, and support sustainable operations across the platform ecosystem. The regulatory push signals ongoing administrative scrutiny over platform parity clauses, an issue that has drawn scrutiny from antitrust authorities globally. While regulators did not publicly identify individual corporate targets or levy fines during the session, administrative guidance meetings in China typically serve as a formal directive for platforms to rectify non-compliant practices before formal enforcement actions are triggered.