On March 23, the Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, along with the Municipal Bureau of Commerce and the Bureau of Culture and Tourism, convened discussions and provided guidance to twelve platform companies, such as Trip.com, Qunar, Amap, JD.com, Taobao Flash Sale, Meituan, Fliggy, Tongcheng Travel, Tujia, Xiaozhu, Douyin, and Kuaishou.

The regulatory bodies also unveiled the initial set of issues discovered since the launch of a wider campaign targeting ‘involution-style’ competition on online platforms, proposing necessary corrective measures.

The primary concerns outlined in the notice can be classified into four categories:

1. Interference with Merchants’ Operational Independence
   Some platforms modified backend settings without consent, enrolling merchants in promotional activities or utilizing technical methods to monitor pricing that compelled merchants to offer the lowest prices online, infringing on their pricing freedom and causing financial detriment, as well as potential risks to product and service quality.

2. Unfair Platform Regulations
   Certain platforms leveraged their dominant market positions to impose unjust rules, enforcing penalties like fines or traffic limitations that increased the operational burdens on merchants.

3. Deceptive Advertising
   Misleading or false promotional tactics employed by some platforms aimed to mislead consumers into making purchases, thereby violating their rights and interests.

4. Weaknesses in Compliance Management Systems
   Some platforms possess compliance management frameworks that are largely ineffective, lacking clear responsibilities and functioning mechanisms.