Zhong Guo Xin Wen Wang·2025-08-09 15:20Group 1 - The subsidy war among food delivery platforms in China is cooling down following a joint statement from Meituan, Ele.me, and JD.com, which committed to avoiding irrational promotions after being interviewed by the State Administration for Market Regulation [1] - Delivery riders and merchants are facing pressure; while order volumes and incomes have increased in the short term, the high intensity of work is causing physical and mental strain [1] - A mid-tier fast food company's management reported a 12%-15% decline in dine-in customer flow due to delivery subsidies, with delivery orders increasing from 15% to 22% of total sales [1] Group 2 - Over-competition and "involution" in the market can harm efficiency and fairness, with subsidies failing to cultivate user habits or expand market size, primarily substituting online for offline business [2] - The subsidy war may accelerate the "Matthew effect," where financially strong platforms use extensive subsidies to squeeze out competitors, leading to increased market concentration [2] - The "double involution" in platform economics involves both competition among platforms for user traffic and merchants being forced to participate in subsidies to gain private traffic [2] Group 3 - Recommendations for government regulation include flexible enforcement, such as reminding platforms to standardize competitive behavior, and utilizing existing laws to regulate predatory pricing [3] - Platforms are advised to avoid short-sighted subsidy competition and instead pursue differentiated development paths by enhancing service quality and technological innovation to gain competitive advantages [3]