Chinese regulators fined travel giant Trip.com $770 million this week over anti-competitive hotel-booking practices, one of the largest antitrust penalties issued in the country this year. Authorities accused the platform of using algorithmic pricing to squeeze partner hotels and disadvantage smaller booking rivals.
The ruling signals that Beijing‘s tech crackdown, which many assumed had cooled, is quietly resuming under a new banner of “platform fairness.” Trip.com’s shares dipped sharply in Hong Kong trading following the announcement.
