China slaps Meituan with $533m fine following monopoly probe

Details:

• The fine imposed by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation was equivalent to 3% of Meituan’s domestic revenue in 2020. The Chinese food delivery giant was also ordered to return 1.29 billion yuan (US$200 million) of deposits related to exclusivity arrangements.
• In addition, the company was also directed to improve its commission mechanism, beef up protections for delivery riders, and ensure restaurant partners’ legal rights are respected.

Dive deeper:

• Analysts had anticipated Meituan to be hit with a much higher fine – upwards of US$700 million – reported Bloomberg.
• In April, Alibaba incurred a much larger fine of US$2.8 billion following an antitrust probe conducted by the Chinese regulator. (Read: China’s link-blocking ban: panacea or Pandora’s box?)

Currency converted from Chinese yuan to US dollars: US$1 = 6.45 Chinese yuan