Meituan sued for alleged abuse of market power in blocking Alipay

Meituan is facing a lawsuit in the Beijing Intellectual Property Court for allegedly abusing its market power by temporarily removing Alipay as a payment option from its main app.

Alipay is the payment platform of Alibaba.

Several netizens had complained in July that Meituan, China's largest on-demand service platform handling online food deliveries and restaurant orders, was restricting payment options on its platforms and prioritized its payment services, along with ApplePay and WeChat Pay options.

The complainant said that Meituan's decision to block Alipay was an abuse of its dominant market position.

According to Wang Peng, an associate professor of the Hillhouse Research Institute at the Renmin University of China, said that Meituan's behavior should be seen as a monopoly as it violates the interests of consumers.
You Yunting, a senior partner with DeBund Law Offices, said it still remains to be seen based on the current laws and regulations whether blocking a competitor's link would be deemed monopolistic.

China is currently scrutinizing key technology sectors, including the internet.

Industry experts said that scrutiny on technology firms is a "worldwide trend," which is necessary for the dynamic and healthy development of emerging industries.