The People"s Daily report disclosed that since 2025, market regulators have received a large number of complaints and reports about Trip.com"s monopolistic practices. "Trip.com required me to sign a "best-price clause" guaranteeing my lowest rates would be on its platform, and the commission rose from about 10 percent to more than 25 percent for some room types. Factoring in rent, labor and energy costs, my net profit margin is now below 5 percent," said a homestay operator in Dali, Southwest China"s Yunnan Province.

　　"The Trip.com monopoly case is the first antitrust case in China"s online travel sector. It is of great significance for regulating the competition order of the online travel service market, protecting the lawful rights and interests of hotel merchants and consumers, and promoting the high-quality development of the industry," said Ning Lizhi, a member of the expert advisory group under the State Council"s Anti-Monopoly and Anti-Unfair Competition Commission and a professor at Wuhan University"s School of Law, according to the report.

　　In addition, the company required lower-tier hotels to offer the "lowest price across all platforms." Once a hotel"s price was found to be higher than on a competing platform, Trip.com directly lowered it through technical tools.

　　Trip.com also used technical means to monitor hotels" compliance with the exclusivity and lowest-price requirements, and enforced them through punitive measures including traffic restrictions, revoking tier status and deducting order deposits, according to the SAMR.