China Imposes $765 Million Antitrust Penalty on Trip.com for Monopolistic Practices
China's State Administration for Market Regulation has levied a significant antitrust penalty of $765 million on Trip.com Group, the country's largest online travel services provider. The penalty follows a six-month investigation into the company's business practices, which were found to be monopolistic. Trip.com, which operates platforms like Ctrip, Qunar, and Skyscanner, was accused of abusing its dominant market position by engaging in anticompetitive practices since 2020. These practices included leveraging traffic-allocation algorithms and platform rules to force hotel partners into exclusive deals and demanding the lowest online rates. The penalty includes the confiscation of illegal gains amounting to 1.658 billion yuan and a fine of 3.521 billion yuan, equivalent to 7.5% of the company's domestic sales in 2025. Trip.com has accepted the ruling and committed to reforming its business model to foster healthy competition. 
