The ¥100 Billion Food Delivery War

It all felt like a dream. For months, Chinese consumers were flooded with deals that seemed impossible: "zero-dollar" milk tea delivered to your door, coffee for pennies, and dinners at a fraction of their cost. This was the reality of an intense, near-hundred-billion-CNY subsidy war waged by China's delivery giants, Meituan, Alibaba, and JD, as daily orders surged from 100 million to an astonishing 250 million. It was a national spectacle of convenience.

Then, almost overnight, it stopped. On July 18th, 2025, Chinese regulators abruptly called a halt to the price war, forcing the platforms to stand down. To the 250 million daily users enjoying the perks, the move was baffling. Why would the government shut down a system that seemed to benefit so many?

The answer reveals a series of devastating truths. This was never just about cheap food. It was a campaign that, as one source put it, “nearly pulled up the real economy by its roots.” The battle for our dinner table was a calculated assault that has fundamentally altered our economy, rewired our psychology, and changed the very fabric of our society.