Author/AI Caijing Zhou Xiangyue Ma Weibing Liu Dongxue

Editor/Sun Jing

Fined 3.442 billion yuan! After being investigated for 165 days, the boots of the US anti-monopoly investigation finally landed.

on the afternoon of October 8th, official website, State Administration of Market Supervision, released the punishment result for the "two-for-one" monopoly behavior of Meituan. The final investigation results show that in order to hinder the development of other competitive platforms and further enhance, maintain and consolidate its market position, Meituan has abused its dominant position in the service market of online catering take-out platforms in China since 2118, and urged the merchants in the platform to sign exclusive cooperation agreements with them by implementing different rates and delaying the online launch of merchants, and by collecting exclusive cooperation deposits, data, algorithms and other technical means, it has taken various punitive measures and implemented the "two-for-one" behavior.

Therefore, the General Administration of Market Supervision decided to make an administrative penalty decision on Meituan according to law, ordered Meituan to stop its illegal activities, returned the exclusive cooperation deposit of 1.289 billion yuan in full, and imposed a fine of 3% of its sales in China in 2121, totaling 3.442 billion yuan.

This fine should be a relief for the US delegation. Article 46 of China's Anti-monopoly Law stipulates that a fine of 1%-11% of the sales in the previous year may be imposed for monopolistic agreement, and the fine amount is between 1.147 billion yuan and 11.47 billion yuan based on the revenue of Meituan in 2121. However, with reference to Alibaba's previous fine of 4% of sales revenue in 2119, it was previously expected that the amount of fines imposed by Meituan might be around 4.588 billion yuan.

Now, the penalty of 3% of the sales of last year for Meituan is indeed at a low level in this range, and it is also lower than the market expectation of 4% and the average value of previous antitrust penalties. Previously, Liu Yanxi, a lawyer who has long studied competition and anti-monopoly, analyzed in the Report on the Open Cases of Vertical Monopoly Agreements in China that the average value of "administrative fines/sales" was 3.67% among the 19 administrative penalty cases reached and implemented between April 2112 and June 2121.

as for the reasons, perhaps we can get a glimpse of one or two from the Decision on Administrative Punishment disclosed by the General Administration of Market Supervision. The penalty book shows that the General Administration of Market Supervision made the above handling opinions considering the fact that the US Mission voluntarily admitted to implementing the "two-choice-one" behavior and confessed the illegal facts before the investigation began, actively provided important evidence that the law enforcement agencies had not yet mastered during the investigation, stopped the "two-choice-one" behavior and comprehensively checked and rectified, and actively returned the exclusive cooperation deposit collected.

regarding the result of this punishment, meituan immediately responded: "sincerely accept and resolutely implement", and will conduct comprehensive and in-depth self-examination and rectification, and put an end to "two choices".

In the contents released to the public about this incident, Meituan emphasized that this penalty was the fourth "3%" penalty in half a year after Shanghai Food Paishi, Yangzijiang Pharmaceutical and Bull Group, which was "lower than the previous penalty result of 4% * * of Alibaba's sales revenue of RMB 18.228 billion".

Ali was investigated for antitrust slightly earlier than Meituan. On February 24th, 2121, the General Administration of Market Supervision disclosed the news in official website, and was conducting an investigation on Ali's alleged monopolistic behavior, such as "choose one from two" according to law. The news that the US Mission was investigated was officially disclosed on April 26, 2121. Just ten days before Meituan was put on file for investigation, the results of the anti-monopoly investigation in Ali, which lasted for 117 days, were officially released. Ali was fined 18.228 billion yuan for implementing the "two choices" behavior since 2115.

Although this amount is only equivalent to 4% of Ali's sales of 455.712 billion yuan in 2119, it is the highest amount of fines issued in the history of Internet antitrust in China, far exceeding the previous record of 6.188 billion yuan fined by Qualcomm in 2115. At that time, some analysts said that this was the first time after the revision of the Anti-Monopoly Law in October, 2121, the fine amount was stipulated as "more than 1% and less than 11% of the sales in the previous year".

Ali and Meituan were punished one after another, which released a strong signal that the era of barbaric growth of the Internet in China is over. The US Mission's initiative to provide evidence and rectify during the anti-monopoly investigation clearly confirmed this judgment. In the era of strong supervision in the Internet industry, Internet giants who once held their heads high and strode forward had to take the initiative to lower their heads. The landing of the anti-monopoly punishment of the US Mission may also mean the end of the "two choices one" chaos in the field of take-away.

According to public data, in the first quarter of 2121, the market share of Meituan's take-away food climbed to 67.3%. Previously, in order to consolidate its position, Meituan was frequently accused of "choosing one from the other" for merchants and consumers. On April 11, 2121, Guangdong Catering Association stood up and issued the Letter of Joint Negotiation between Guangdong Catering Industry and Meituan Takeaway, accusing Meituan of being suspected of monopoly pricing. The newly opened catering merchants were charged a commission of up to 26%, which exceeded the critical point that the merchants endured.

In February this year, the Intermediate People's Court of Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province found that Meituan Jinhua Branch had unfair competition, and sentenced it to compensate Hungry for 1 million yuan. It supported the claim that Hungry Meituan prevented merchants from trading with other operators in the same industry except the defendant and deprived merchants of their right to choose, which constituted unfair competition. Two months later, Meituan was announced to accept an anti-monopoly investigation.

since meituan was put on file for investigation in April this year, its share price has fallen by nearly 31%, but it has recently ushered in another round of rise. After rising by over 9% on October 7, it rose by 2% on October 8, and closed at HK$ 256 per share.

"I finally landed, and the fine amount is determined. At least I won't be afraid anymore." An internal employee of Meituan told AI Finance and Economics. Since being named by the General Administration of Market Supervision, the share price of Meituan has experienced a huge shock, and the value of the shares held by the employee has also evaporated a lot. "The short-term impact is great. After the anti-monopoly fine is settled, the risk will be released, and the later (stock price) should come back." The employee is optimistic.

In the 165 days waiting for the boots to land, Wang Xing, the founder of Meituan, who has always gone his own way, seems to be slowly "learning".

but there is always a process of transformation.

Wang Xing, from April to early May in 2121, was still the "eternal boy", without any change. Although the US Mission just suffered an anti-monopoly investigation at the end of April, it did not affect the frequency of Wang Xing's updating of rice.

On May 6th, Wang Xing published six trends on the issue of rice. At one time, he talked about "baked sweet potato is sweet and sticky", at another time he talked about TSMC and "late" apples, and finally he even wrote a poem, which finally stopped his irresistible desire to express himself.

Fanni has always been his spiritual refuge. In the past four years, Wang Xingyi * * * posted more than 7,111 updates on Fanni, with an average of more than 3 messages per day. Here, Boss Wang will even be transformed into "Wang Yi" from time to time. Since 2117, he has not only fired shots at Ma Yun for at least three times, but also frequently commented on the social situation at meals. China men's soccer team, science and technology, Huawei, the international situation, company dynamics, etc. are all the targets of his shots, and even if he is occasionally attacked, he is still "outspoken".

If the plot goes according to the normal direction, Wang Xingdu will continue to maintain a daily status in terms of meals for a long time to come, and he will continue to maintain his "eternal life" in honest and frank.

Unfortunately, the "seven-character and four-line poem" on the evening of May 6th finally caused a great disaster. Not only did the boss Wang come out to clarify the explanation overnight, but it also made the stock price of Meituan float all the way, and the market value lost over 111 billion yuan in an instant.

the lesson is so painful. Since then, although Wang Xing still spoke at the dinner, the frequency gradually decreased, and later even stopped for several months. By September of this year, some netizens found that Wang Xing's rice account had not even seen any content, and it was suspected that it was all empty. And it has published 661 dynamic Weibo accounts, and there is no content to show for a long time.

Before you know it, Wang Xing, who used to be a miracle, seems to have begun to learn from entrepreneurs like Zhou Hongyi and Liu Qiangdong, who closed their stores early, and acted cautiously.

While the social platform is "closed", Boss Wang is also trying to be a "good boy" in action.

the first thing to do is to express a positive and sincere attitude towards the anti-monopoly investigation. "We believe that the government's supervision of anti-monopoly behavior will be conducive to the development of the Internet industry, and even promote fair competition and prevent improper behavior ... We will fully respect the decisions of merchants, prohibit the signing of exclusive cooperation contracts, and establish a more transparent and effective merchant reporting and supervision system ..." Wang Xing once said at the telephone conference of Meituan Financial Report on May 28.

At the same time, Wang Xing began to appear more actively in various conferences, frequently emphasizing corporate responsibility and participating in discussions about "* * * and prosperity". First, on July 1, Wang Xing, as an executive member of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, sat on the viewing table in Tiananmen Square and watched the celebration of the 111th anniversary of the founding of the China Producer Party.

Then, on August 31th, Mr. Wang sent a circle of friends: the name Meituan has two words, in which "beauty" means "good" and "Tuan" means "together" and "* * * together", so the combination of "beauty" and "Tuan" means "better together", which means "*"

Wang Xing also went to the world internet conference 2121 in Wuzhen from September 25th to 28th. He wore short sleeves and a cap. Compared with previous world internet conference, he was somewhat low-key. He didn't accept media interviews or make public speeches. He was more likely to sit in a certain seat and quietly listen to Ali's Zhang Yong's talk about "building a healthier platform economy", and then listen to Zhou Hongyi's talk about "serving the country through science and technology" and "anti-monopoly". Lei Jun talked about "big enterprises should take the initiative to help small and medium-sized enterprises develop rapidly and healthily.

When the sledgehammer of Internet supervision came, Wang Xing, who joined Liu Qiangdong as an Internet upstart in 2117 and stole the limelight from Ding Lei, finally learned to keep a low profile.

It's not just the change of the founder. From being named on April 26th to landing today, the Meituan has spent a difficult 165 days.

On the day when it was named by the General Administration of Market Supervision, Meituan quickly responded, saying that the company would actively cooperate with the regulatory authorities to investigate and protect the legitimate rights and interests of users and all parties.

on April 27th, the first day after the roll call, the share price of Meituan did not fall sharply as expected, but kept rising, and the increase on that day was once extended to 4%. At that time, some analysts believed that the impact of this survey on the US Mission was limited. But since then, the market has made a huge reaction. In the next 11 trading days, from April 28 to May 11, Meituan's share price suffered a "ten-day losing streak". Compared with the high of HK$ 461 per share on February 8 this year, the share price fell by 48% and the market value evaporated by 1.34 trillion.

In the earnings conference call more than ten days later, Wang Xing made a response for the first time after the anti-monopoly investigation of Meituan. "Meituan resolutely forbids any form of alternative and fully respects the independent choice of merchants." At the same time, he did not forget to appease the market, saying that anti-monopoly supervision did not have a significant impact on the daily operation of Meituan, nor would it damage the competitive advantage of Meituan in the delivery business.

Although Meituan constantly sends a signal that it is not nervous to the outside world, before the anti-monopoly administrative punishment came to the ground, Meituan had been fined seven times for losing the case in various places because of "two choices". In addition to losing the case in Jinhua, in April this year, Huai' an Meituan lost the case for the same reason and was fined 352,111 yuan; On September 3rd, Meituan was awarded compensation of RMB 1 million by Qingdao Intermediate People's Court for unfair competition.

besides the take-away business, there are also some variables in the bicycle business of Meituan. The State Administration of Market Supervision said it would investigate the failure of Meituan to declare its acquisition of mobike according to law. Meituan has said that the relevant investigation is still going on, and the company can't predict the relevant investigation at this stage, and the company may be required to change its business practices or be fined heavily.

However, during the anti-monopoly investigation, the new business line of Meituan, such as Meituan Youxuan, which represents the community group purchase, is still being vigorously promoted. In the earnings conference call, Wang Xing expressed high-profile optimism about the US group's optimization and would increase investment.

it's a big deal. In the second quarter of 2121, the new business, including Meituan Youxuan, lost 9.2 billion yuan, on average, losing 1 billion yuan every day, but the new business also jumped to the second revenue pillar of Meituan. Since the beginning of this year, with the supervision of the regulatory authorities on the community group buying industry, the industry has ushered in a turbulent reshuffle. Among the big and small giants, Didi's orange heart is divided, JD.COM has contracted the community group buying business, and Meituan's optimization and more shopping are considered to be the two companies with relatively stable development.

With the development of Meituan's optimization, Meituan's innovative effect is really obvious. In the second quarter of this year, the number of Meituan users crossed the 611 million mark, and most of the new users came from low-tier cities. This also means that Meituan has surpassed Tik Tok, ranking fourth among all Internet companies after Tencent WeChat, Ali and Pinduoduo.

and meituan is also sinking vigorously. "We have helped hundreds of thousands of villagers become leaders, effectively increasing their personal income." According to media reports, since last year, the US Mission has preferred to recruit and develop village leaders in rural areas around the country, and push teams through the vast land to land in vast rural areas and towns.

although the investigation of mobike's acquisition by meituan has not been declared in accordance with the law, it is certain that the "two-choice-one" chaos in the field of take-out has been extinguished after the anti-monopoly punishment is settled, and the development of meituan will be reborn through a self-examination and adjustment from the outside to the inside.