• Regulator initiated hearing amid conflicting industry views
• Some third parties urged SAMR to block the deal
• Deal entered Phase III review in late September

Competitors of food delivery giant Meituan opposed the company’s proposed remedies for its acquisition of Maiyatian at an unusual public hearing organized by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on 18 September, according to five sources familiar with the matter.

The hearing, which was initiated by SAMR rather than Meituan, was held after the regulator faced difficulties reconciling objections raised by industry participants during its review, the first and second sources said.

Participants included several of Meituan’s key competitors, namely ByteDance, JD.com and Alibaba, as well as a number of upstream and downstream market participants and competition law scholars, according to the sources. Two delivery service providers also attended the hearing, the first source said.

The proposal consisted solely of behavioural remedies, which several competitors opposed, according to the first source. Some participants called for stronger commitments, while others urged SAMR to prohibit the transaction altogether, the same source added.

SAMR did not express a position during the hearing, said the first and a fifth source. The participating scholars also did not comment, according to the fifth source.

The hearing broadly followed procedures set out in SAMR’s regulations governing public hearings for administrative penalty decisions, originally promulgated in December 2018 and amended in July 2021, the first source said.

The hearing, which lasted around half a day, effectively served as a “face-to-face market test” of Meituan’s proposed remedies, the first source said.

The use of a hearing in a merger review is highly unusual, according to antitrust lawyers not involved in the case and a review of public records. There was one precedent in China’s merger control history: Huiyuan/Coca-Cola. In its March 2009 decision prohibiting the transaction, China’s then merger control regulator — the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) — said it had conducted public hearings as part of its in-depth competitive assessment of the case during the review process. Detailed records of those hearings are not publicly available.

The Meituan/Maiyatian transaction remains under remedy negotiation and entered Phase III review in late September, according to the first source.

As previously reported by this news service, Meituan began remedy negotiations with SAMR around July 2026 over its acquisition of Beijing-based Maiyatian, which it completed in 2025. SAMR called in the deal in December 2025 following significant complaints from domestic market participants. SAMR formally accepted Maiyatian/Meituan for review in late May 2026.

Maiyatian/Meituan is the first below-threshold transaction in China’s internet sector to be called in by SAMR for merger review.

SAMR does not comment on ongoing matters.

Meituan, ByteDance, JD.com and Alibaba did not reply to requests for comment.