Xin Lang Ke Ji·2025-07-16 14:07Core Viewpoint - The CEO of Meituan's core local business segment, Wang Puzhong, expressed confidence in Meituan's ability to compete against Alibaba's aggressive 500 billion subsidy strategy, stating that Meituan can match Alibaba's efforts with significantly fewer resources [1][2]. Group 1: Competitive Landscape - Alibaba's 500 billion subsidy is seen as an irrational competition aimed at intimidating Meituan, with the expectation that Meituan cannot keep up financially [2]. - Meituan achieved a record order volume of 1.5 billion on a single day, but Wang Puzhong clarified that the actual expenditure was much lower than the 800 million speculated by Alibaba insiders [3]. - Wang Puzhong noted that Alibaba's cumulative losses from its food delivery service Ele.me exceed 150 billion, suggesting that Alibaba's new investment is akin to a gambler trying to recover losses [4]. Group 2: Market Dynamics - The decision for Alibaba to intensify its competition appears to have been influenced by the entry of JD.com into the food delivery market, which reportedly secured 25 million orders in just 75 days [6]. - Wang Puzhong emphasized that the number of orders does not equate to valuable Gross Transaction Value (GTV), highlighting that many orders consist of low-value items, such as bulk purchases of bottled water [6]. - The overall market for instant retail has seen a significant increase, with daily orders rising from 100 million at the beginning of the year to 250 million recently, although Wang Puzhong believes that most of this growth is speculative [7].