China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) could announce the result of its antitrust probe into Trip.com as soon as this week, possibly as early as July 20, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Trip.com, a Shanghai-based online travel company, could face a fine of 2 billion yuan (US$295 million) to 6 billion yuan (US$295 million to US$885 million).

SAMR opened the investigation in January, alleging that Trip.com abused a dominant market position after warnings and complaints over exclusivity demands and alleged algorithmic interference in pricing.

Under China’s Anti-Monopoly Law, abuse-of-dominance cases can draw fines of 1% to 10% of the previous year’s turnover, confiscation of illegal gains, and orders to stop the conduct.

Trip.com operates the Trip.com platform, Skyscanner, and the China-focused Ctrip and Qunar brands.

The company reported 62 billion yuan (US$9.15 billion) in 2025 net revenue, removed its “AI business assistant” pricing tool in March.

The company said in June that a fine could materially hurt its financial position, operating results, or cash flows.

Industry research has described Ctrip as dominating China’s online travel market, while another report says leading players control 89% of the sector’s revenue.

In a comparable case, Alibaba was fined 18 billion yuan (US$2.66 billion) in 2021 over exclusivity practices.

Regulators also ordered changes to its platform rules and compliance processes.

🔗 Source: South China Morning Post

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