China Fines Online Travel Giant Ctrip 5.18 Billion Yuan in Antitrust Crackdown

China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has penalized online travel giant Ctrip Group 5.179 billion yuan ($720 million) for abusing its market dominance in domestic online hotel booking services since 2020. The regulator found Ctrip engaged in anti-competitive practices, including coercing hotels into exclusive partnerships and enforcing mandatory 'lowest price across all platforms' clauses using algorithmic tools. In addition to fines and confiscated illegal gains, SAMR ordered Ctrip to refund 122 million yuan in deducted reserve funds to hotel operators and undergo comprehensive rectification.

The massive penalty highlights Beijing's continued enforcement against platform monopolies, specifically targeting forced exclusivity and price parity clauses that stifle fair market competition. By ordering the return of deducted merchant funds and calling out algorithmic price manipulation, regulators are seeking to restore pricing autonomy to hotel operators and curb destructive platform-driven price wars.

China's market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), announced on July 25, 2026, that it has penalized online travel giant Ctrip Group Co., Ltd. a total of 5.179 billion yuan for abusing its market dominance in domestic online hotel booking platform services. The decision follows an investigation initiated in January 2026 under the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law. In addition to financial penalties, SAMR ordered Ctrip to cease all illegal activities, undergo comprehensive rectification, and fully refund 122 million yuan in order reserve funds previously withheld from hotel operators. The financial penalty comprises two parts: a confiscation of 1.658 billion yuan in illegal gains and a fine of 3.521 billion yuan. The fine represents 7.5 percent of Ctrip's 2025 domestic sales revenue of 46.958 billion yuan. Regulators stated that Ctrip had systematically abused its market position since 2020 by using traffic allocation mechanisms, technical tools, and platform rules to implement restrictive monopolistic practices. According to the investigation, Ctrip engaged in two primary types of conduct violating Article 22 of the Anti-Monopoly Law. First, the platform induced high-traffic, high-quality "Special Brand" hotels into exclusive arrangements using traffic biases and promotional perks, while barring them from listing on competing platforms. Second, Ctrip forced non-exclusive "Gold Brand" and unbranded hotels to offer "lowest price across all platforms" parity. When lower prices were identified elsewhere, Ctrip utilized technical tools such as "Price Adjustment Assistant" and "Guapai Tong," along with manual interventions, to forcibly lower prices on its platform. To enforce compliance, Ctrip monitored hotel practices through technical means and applied punitive measures, including traffic restrictions, platform delisting, and reserve fund deductions. SAMR concluded that these actions restricted cross-platform merchant operations, violated hotel operators' pricing autonomy, harmed consumer interests, and fueled destructive "involutive" competition. SAMR confirmed it will oversee Ctrip's compliance reform, require public progress updates, and work to safeguard merchant and consumer rights across the platform economy.