BUSINESS

Alibaba’s AutoNavi Waives Fees, Pours Billions Into Battle With Meituan

Published: Sep. 24, 2025 2:16 a.m. GMT+8

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AutoNavi Holdings Ltd. operates Gaode Map app.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s mapping unit AutoNavi Holdings Ltd. is waiving first-year fees for restaurant merchants, stepping up its challenge to Meituan in China’s competitive in-store dining market.

The operator of Amap app, also known as Gaode Map, announced Tuesday that, along with the fee waiver, new eateries on its platform will receive traffic support, dedicated customer service, and smart cashier equipment. The support package also includes more than 950 million yuan ($131 million) in consumer subsidies and 200 million yuan in travel subsidies.

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Alibaba’s AutoNavi is waiving first-year fees and offering subsidies totaling over 1.15 billion yuan to attract restaurant merchants, directly challenging Meituan in China’s in-store dining market.
The new “Gaode Street-Scanning List” feature drew 40 million visits on its first day, with expanded integration across Alibaba apps to compete with Meituan’s Dianping.
Alibaba’s Hong Kong shares rose nearly 40% since late April 2024, while Meituan’s fell 40% since early February amid heightened industry competition.

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Who’s Who

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is intensifying its challenge to Meituan in China's local services market through its mapping unit, AutoNavi. This includes waiving first-year fees for restaurant merchants, providing substantial consumer and travel subsidies, and launching new features like the "Gaode Street-Scanning List" to compete with Dianping. Alibaba is leveraging its various platforms, including Taobao and Alipay, to further integrate and expand its presence.

AutoNavi Holdings Ltd.: AutoNavi Holdings Ltd. (also known as Gaode Map) is Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s mapping unit. It is actively challenging Meituan in China's in-store dining market by waiving first-year fees for restaurant merchants, offering support packages, and launching new features like the "Gaode Street-Scanning List." This is part of Alibaba's broader strategy to compete in the local services sector.

Meituan: Meituan is a dominant player in China's local services sector, particularly in in-store dining. Its Dianping platform holds a significant market position, and the company has leveraged its food delivery traffic to profit from hotel, travel, and in-store operations. However, Meituan is facing intensified competition from Alibaba's AutoNavi and other platforms like Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu.

Taobao: Taobao is one of the platforms through which Alibaba is integrating its services to challenge Meituan in the local services sector. Specifically, an in-store group-buying service was launched across Taobao, AutoNavi, and Alipay apps to compete directly with Dianping's "in-store package deals."

Alipay: Alipay, an Alibaba app, is being integrated into a new in-store group-buying service. This service, launched across Taobao, AutoNavi, and Alipay, aims to challenge Dianping's "in-store package deals" as part of a renewed effort by Alibaba to gain market share in competitive sectors.

Douyin: Douyin created a dedicated "Life Services" division in December 2022 to cover hotels, travel, and in-store dining. It has been accelerating its expansion in these areas throughout 2023. Douyin is a short-video app owned by ByteDance Ltd.

ByteDance Ltd.: ByteDance Ltd. owns the short-video app Douyin. In December 2022, ByteDance's Douyin established a dedicated "Life Services" division. This division covers hotels, travel, in-store dining, and other local services, with accelerated expansion in 2023.

Kuaishou: Kuaishou is a short-video app that has been actively exploring in-store services in recent years. Along with Douyin and Xiaohongshu, Kuaishou is entering the competitive in-store dining market, which is currently dominated by Meituan.

Xiaohongshu: Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) is mentioned as a platform that has been actively exploring in-store services in recent years. This aligns it with other companies like Kuaishou, Douyin, and Meituan that are competing in China's local services sector, particularly in in-store dining.

JD.com: The article mentions that JD.com (京东) entered the food delivery business in early February. This competition has contributed to a nearly 40% fall in Meituan's stock since that time.

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What Happened When

December 2022：: Douyin (owned by ByteDance Ltd.) established a dedicated 'Life Services' division covering hotels, travel, in-store dining, and other local services.

2023：: Douyin accelerated expansion of its 'Life Services' division.

2023–2025：: Kuaishou and Xiaohongshu actively explored in-store services.

Early February 2025：: JD.com entered the food delivery business, sparking a decline in Meituan’s stock price.

Late April 2025：: Alibaba re-entered the food delivery sector, initiating renewed competition in the market.

Early September 2025：: AutoNavi launched the 'Gaode Street-Scanning List' feature, directly challenging Meituan’s Dianping.

September 20, 2025：: Alibaba launched an in-store group-buying service across Taobao, AutoNavi, and Alipay apps.

September 23, 2025：: AutoNavi announced first-year fee waivers and subsidies for new restaurant merchants on its platform, and provided new support and equipment.

As of September 23, 2025：: Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares rose nearly 40% to HK$159.4, while Meituan’s stock fell nearly 40% since early February 2025 to HK$101.

AI generated, for reference only