Market Regulator Imposes Administrative Penalty on Ctrip for Abuse of Market Dominance, Total Fines of 5.179 Billion Yuan

On July 25, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) imposed an administrative penalty on Ctrip Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Ctrip) for abusing its market dominance and engaging in monopolistic behavior, with total fines amounting to 5.179 billion yuan. Investigations revealed that since 2020, Ctrip has abused its dominant position in the online hotel booking service market in China, implementing two types of monopolistic behavior centered around traffic allocation mechanisms:

1. Ctrip required "special brand" hotel operators to engage in exclusive cooperation, incentivizing them with maximum traffic allocation and support, thereby inducing high transaction volume, quality service, and strong user attraction hotel operators to choose "special brand," while also mandating that they do not cooperate with competing platforms.

2. Ctrip forced "gold medal" and "non-brand" hotel operators to offer "the lowest price across the network," requiring hotels operating on multiple platforms to set the lowest price on Ctrip. It allowed direct price adjustments, and if hotel prices were found to be higher than those on competing platforms, Ctrip would lower the prices using technical tools such as "price adjustment assistant" and "listing assistant." Additionally, Ctrip monitored the implementation of exclusive cooperation and "lowest price across the network" through technical means and enforced compliance through punitive measures such as traffic restrictions, "delisting," and deducting order reserve funds.

According to Articles 57 and 59 of the Anti-Monopoly Law, considering the nature, degree, and duration of Ctrip's monopolistic behavior, the SAMR made an administrative penalty decision: Ctrip is ordered to cease illegal activities, fully refund the forcibly deducted order reserve funds of 122 million yuan from hotel operators; confiscate illegal gains of 1.658 billion yuan; and impose a fine of 7.5% of its sales in China in 2025, amounting to 3.521 billion yuan.

Ctrip issued a statement in response, stating that it sincerely accepts and will strictly comply with the regulatory requirements, systematically advancing and implementing various rectification measures to ensure effective execution. Ctrip will publicly release specific rectification measures and actively accept supervision from all sectors of society to ensure that the rectification work achieves tangible results.

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