China's Market Regulator Fines Seven Platforms RMB 3.6 Billion, Handles 11,465 Unfair Competition Cases

The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) recently reported on its measures and results in rectifying 'involution-style' competition in the first half of the year. In the first half, a total of 11,465 unfair competition cases were investigated and handled nationwide, including 2,005 cases of online false advertising and online commercial defamation. In recent years, price competition and 'involution-style' competition at the expense of quality and squeezing practitioners have become prominent problems that disrupt market order and harm public interests. Low-price competition forces operators to cut costs, which can lead to quality degradation, reduced quality, and even inferior products entering the market, while also squeezing the reasonable profit margins of small and medium-sized merchants and increasing their operational pressure.

The SAMR is actively advancing the revision of the Price Law, intending to further improve the rules for identifying unfair price behaviors such as low-price dumping, strengthen price supervision and enforcement tools, improve the legal liability system, and prevent and stop operators from engaging in bottomless 'price wars'.

In the first half of 2026, the SAMR focused on investigating a series of 'ghost takeout' cases, imposing fines and confiscations totaling RMB 3.597 billion on seven e-commerce platforms: Pinduoduo, Meituan, JD. com, Ele. me (Taobao Flash Purchase), Douyin, Taobao, and Tmall. At the same time, the legal representatives and food safety directors of the seven platform companies were jointly penalized RMB 19.6874 million, severely punishing the platforms for condoning 'ghost takeout' behavior.

Going forward, the SAMR will continue to balance regulation and development, intensify efforts to deeply rectify 'involution-style' competition, strengthen supervision and enforcement, improve long-term mechanisms, regulate price competition, safeguard the vital interests of the people, and promote the formation of a market order that values quality and fair competition.