Overview
- The State Administration for Market Regulation published a draft called the 'Ten Rules on Takeout Platform Subsidy Behavior' and opened a public comment period that runs to July 17, with agencies saying they will revise the draft after consultation.
- The draft bars long-term, large-scale subsidies that exclude competitors, forbids forcing merchants to join subsidy programs or sell below cost, requires platforms to disclose key subsidy information before and after campaigns, and highlights legal risks under China’s competition, price, e‑commerce and food-safety laws.
- Shenzhen regulators carried out citywide inspections that exposed false addresses, one-address-many-shops listings, licence mismatches and poor hygiene, and on June 16 they summoned Meituan, Taobao Flash and JD Waimai to deliver formal notices demanding immediate self-inspection and merchant delisting where needed.
- All three platforms publicly backed the draft rules and pledged to tighten merchant vetting, remove problematic listings and adjust subsidy practices, a response made sharper by industry losses such as Meituan’s reported 2025 net loss and continued quarterly losses.
- Next steps include SAMR revising the draft after the July 17 deadline, continued local enforcement checks and potential legal or administrative penalties for noncompliance, with likely effects on prices, merchant revenues and platform marketing tactics.