Trip.com Group announced Monday that it has dismantled a pricing program that became the focus of China’s antitrust investigation into the online travel company. Following a ruling from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), the company eliminated its automated price-tracking and price-matching tool along with two delegated distribution programs that had structured how hotels managed inventory and pricing on the platform.
The company’s leadership, including CEO Jane Sun and CFO Xiaofan Wang, disclosed the changes during an investor call. The discontinued programs—referred to as Tier 1 and Tier 2 delegated distribution programs—had been central commercial arrangements connecting hotels with the platform’s pricing mechanisms.
To replace the removed tools, Trip.com has introduced what executives described as a new “multi-tier partnership framework.” According to company representatives, this alternative structure is intended to provide hotel partners with increased operational flexibility, greater visibility into platform operations, and mechanisms for shared financial growth.
The company acknowledged that the earlier shutdown of its pricing tool in March is already producing measurable effects on its financial results. This disclosure suggests that the regulatory enforcement action is having tangible business consequences for the platform, which must now demonstrate its ability to maintain competitive hotel relationships, support revenue growth, and preserve market share through different commercial mechanisms than those previously employed.
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