Latest news with #Meituan
The Star
4 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
Gen Z's love-hate relationship with discounts
"Voucher just for you", "Popular deals, free bubble tea" — for millions of young office workers, these pop-up alerts are more effective wake-up calls than any alarm clock. From grabbing breakfast pancakes to ordering late-night fried chicken, the era of "subsidised prices" has quietly taken hold, reshaping how Gen Z spends their money. For cash-strapped young consumers, these subsidies feel like a godsend. Whether they're new graduates, mortgage-burdened employees, or struggling students, they all share the same thrill when landing a super coupon — like hitting a mini jackpot. When major food delivery platforms like Meituan and battle for lunch orders, or e-commerce giants and Pinduoduo race to clear consumers' digital shopping carts, budget-savvy Gen Z "coupon warriors" might seem like the victors. For youth squeezed between sky-high rents and rising costs, every meal deal and bubble tea discount becomes a tangible sanity-saver. E-commerce platforms now weaponise convenience: fast delivery, precise recommendations, and buttery-smooth interfaces keep you swiping. Yet capitalism's oldest rule still holds: there's no such thing as a free lunch. Countless small eateries now find themselves caught in the subsidy war, forced to sacrifice profits just to gain visibility. As platforms push vendors toward deeper discounts to capture market share, order volumes soar while profits plummet. Some respond by cutting corners: braised chicken portions shrink, bubble tea cups are filled with more ice than tea, fresh greens are swapped for frozen alternatives, and premium meats are replaced with cheaper cuts. To meet tight deadlines and razor-thin margins, premade meals and industrial food kits have become the norm in kitchens across the country. In this race to the bottom, principled restaurants face two options — compromise their values or close down. The soul-warming authenticity of street food culture is at risk, its flavours diluted by artificial discounts. Even more worrying is how bargain hunting reshapes our mindset. When rock-bottom prices take center stage, are we buying what we truly need, or simply chasing deals? And what happens when these subsidies disappear? If competition focuses only on undercutting prices rather than improving service or efficiency, it risks stifling innovation. Diminishing choices and declining quality could drain the market of vitality. In this "war", there are no true winners. As the primary targets of this subsidy frenzy, Gen Z still relishes the thrill of coupon raids, flash sales, and group buys. But beneath the surface, our consumption instincts dull, and the habit of over-purchasing grows quietly in the background. In a world full of temptations, true adulthood means knowing when to enjoy the deal — and when to walk away. Subsidy storms are temporary. Life always returns to its baseline. The real skill lies in spending wisely, without losing clarity amid the noise. Written by Sun Yixue, dean of the International School at Tongji University in Shanghai. His research focuses on comparative literature, world literature, and the international dissemination of Chinese culture. He has conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Edinburgh in the UK and has been a senior visiting scholar at the University of Virginia and Arizona State University in the US. "Billions in subsidies", "free meals", "zero-cost purchases" — these ultra-low-price promotions from food delivery platforms are sweeping across China's catering industry. Since May, over 10 provincial-level cuisine and dining industry associations — including those from Beijing, Chongqing, and Shandong — have issued open letters urging platforms to stop "involution-style" competition and instead promote standardised, healthy, and sustainable development. They warn that such disorderly competition harms the interests of all parties involved — platforms, merchants, and consumers. - China Daily/ANN
The Star
6 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
China kids deliver food, help courier riders with orders, spark safety concerns
Authorities clamp down on outsourcing-to-children method used by food delivery riders who get kids to undertake chore of finding customers. — SCMP A new trend of children helping food couriers deliver orders that had emerged in a well-known electronics market in southern China has been nipped in the bud by the authorities. Huaqiangbei market in the city of Shenzhen is one of the world's biggest electronics markets. It is full of children during the summer holidays. The children operated as gig workers who helped delivery riders carry orders and locate customers. They wore a payment QR code around their necks and fought for orders whenever a rider wearing blue and yellow, the uniforms of China's two biggest food delivery platforms, Meituan and Alibaba Group Holding's came along. Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post . The riders paid them two yuan (US$0.30) per order. The trend arose because Huaqiangbei has a complicated structure. Thousands of electronics stores are squeezed into buildings there, and deliveries can be speeded up by using people who know the place well. Waiting for lifts during rush hours also takes time. As a result, some riders outsourced the last leg of their work to others. The delivery riders only earned about three yuan (US$0.40) per order after paying the children, but many said the time saved was worth it. According to the Shenzhen Evening News , the last-stop service in Huaqiangbei has existed for years. It had been mostly carried out by cleaners and full-time deliverers. One woman said she could get up to 500 orders from riders. As children joined the business, some deliverers became brokers, outsourcing the orders at one yuan per order. The children used were mostly 10 to 12 years old, the youngest being only eight. Some were the children of shop owners in Huaqiangbei, while others were brought in by their parents to 'experience life and learn willpower'. One parent said he brought his children to work as deliverers because 'they only played with their phones at home'. Another parent who works as a teacher let his 10-year-old daughter try the job to teach her how difficult it was to make money. 'I used to be timid, but now I can solicit business,' said one child who did the job. However, business in the market raised safety concerns. Some worried that children were more likely to encounter danger, while others were concerned about the safety of their food. 'It is a good way to train children, but if there are any accidents it is hard to determine responsibility,' one businessman said. 'I do not think these kids are supervised by the delivery platforms. I am worried about the food not being delivered or being spilled,' said another. On August 4, the local government issued a notice to end the service. They also said they had spoken to food delivery platforms and told them to discipline their riders for outsourcing to children. The government has also prepared extracurricular classes and extended the community library's opening hours to encourage children to partake in better pastimes. – South China Morning Post
Borneo Post
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Borneo Post
Chinese adults head back to school at sundown to chase passions
Trainees practice classical dance at a cultural center in the Xiangjiang New Area, central China's Hunan Province, July 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) CHANGSHA (Aug 13): After taking up Chinese painting classes, 52-year-old Yang Li began dressing in brighter colors and plating meals so artfully that her son said they looked like a painter's palette. A white-collar worker in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, Yang enrolled in a local night school this May, trading her usual evenings of housework for hours spent painting in the classroom. 'It unlocks a second life for me,' she said. 'It has taught me patience. Now I'm willing to pause for a falling leaf and take time to admire a flower from every angle.' With a growing number of night schools now offering courses in video editing, musical instruments, artificial intelligence and more, Chinese adults are heading back to classrooms after work to explore new interests and reconnect with themselves through lifelong learning. Meituan, a Chinese e-commerce platform, has reported a surge of over 78 percent in online discussions about night classes since the beginning of 2025, with comment sections now filled with course suggestions, learning tips and personal stories mostly from the hobby-driven learners. Wang Haodong, a 24-year-old community worker, learns to play the guitar at night. 'The affordable classes are a great gift to young people like me. When I lose myself in music, the day's stress disappears,' he said. While some people attend night schools to pursue hobbies, others enroll to keep up with the rapidly evolving society. A teacher (C) instructs trainees Chinese painting and calligraphy at a cultural center in the Xiangjiang New Area, central China's Hunan Province, July 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) Witnessing the rise of automation and digital transformation in the factory workshop, former industrial worker Yang Baohua, 46, signed up for a course in AI training. Here, he has learned to use AI for writing documents and creating PowerPoint, and is gradually starting to learn basic coding. 'Studying AI sparked my interest. I'll keep learning and aim for an AI trainer certification to find a better job,' he said. Trainees practice ukuleles at a cultural center in the Xiangjiang New Area, central China's Hunan Province, July 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) In Changsha, the price for a single session ranges from 30 yuan (4.2 U.S. dollars) to 60 yuan, and teaching materials are provided free of charge. Classes run on weekday evenings, leaving weekends free. 'The popular courses are filled within minutes,' said Tan Ting, director of a night school in the city, adding that such schools are quickly becoming a vital part of the education system. Statistics show that over the past two years, various night schools in Changsha have offered courses benefiting over 100,000 participants. Courses are regularly updated based on student feedback, with new classes added and less popular ones phased out. A teacher (C) teaches guitar playing at a cultural center in the Xiangjiang New Area, central China's Hunan Province, July 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) In Shanghai, night schools offer more than 2,300 classes in the upcoming autumn term across more than 600 venues. Night schools are also common in other cities such as Shenzhen, Nanchang and Nanjing. Market research firm Frost & Sullivan predicts that China's adult education market will hit 1.04 trillion yuan by 2027, fueled by rising incomes and a surging demand for lifelong learning. Du Yizhu, an assistant researcher at Chongqing University, noted that modern life's fast pace has fueled a strong demand for nighttime public education. 'Night schools allow individuals to embrace their hobbies in a high-quality yet affordable way,' Du said. – Xinhua adults China education passion
Forbes
20 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
China Market Update: Semiconductor Stocks Soar, Tariff Deadline Extended (Again)
Asian equities were mostly higher overnight on the US' decision to extend the tariff 'deadline' once again (shocking), as Indonesia and Japan outperformed, while Korea and Thailand underperformed. Hong Kong and Mainland markets were both higher overnight, though the Hang Seng Tech Index closed lower by the end of the session on mixed performance from internet name, though technology hardware names largely did well. Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares were slightly lower overnight, Kuaishou was sharply lower, and Meituan was slightly higher. Mainland investors had another billion-plus day, in dollar terms, of net buying of Hong Kong-listed stocks and ETFs via Southbound Stock Connect. Trump extended the tariff 'deadline' once again for another three months or 90 days. Why does this keep getting extended? Likely because the Trump team knows that $3,000 to $5,000 iPhones would be highly destabilizing to the US economy. It's the Art of the Deal! The deadline is likely to continue to get extended until we get a deal. There remain many chances for a Trump-Xi Summit in the fall, including the September 9th commemoration of the end of World War II in Beijing, the UN General Assembly (UNGA), also in September, and APEC in October. We will see, though it looks like the president will be meeting Puttin first. Kuaishou fell nearly -10% in Hong Kong overnight after the video platform added a food delivery section to its 'super app' that links to Meituan. The sell-off was likely overblown, but investors have become very sensitive to the potential margin impact of instant commerce and food delivery promotions. Thankfully, Kuaishou does not appear to be starting its own business in the space. Wang Yiming from the PBOC commented on instance commerce price wats and China's anti-involution policy to combat this, explaining that it is not anticompetitive. Per the South China Morning Post, he said that 'It [the policy]Semiconductor companies Cambricon Technologies, which is listed on the STAR Market and gained +20% overnight, Foxconn Industrial, which gained +9%, were higher on government guidance against the use of Nvidia's H20 chips in China, for which the American semiconductor maker just secured an export license. It is likely stemming from the US government's demand to take a cut of Nvidia's China sales revenue. Internet earnings will kick off this week with Tencent, which will report second quarter results tomorrow. New Content Read our latest article: KraneShares KOID ETF: Humanoid Robot Rings Nasdaq Opening Bell Please click here to read
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Alibaba tops Meituan's China on-demand delivery, fuelled by 1 million cups of tea daily
Orders on Alibaba's instant commerce channel Taobao Shangou topped 100 million on Thursday, 20 million fewer than Meituan. After Meituan stopped its promotion on Friday and Saturday, Taobao's orders overtook Meituan's, LatePost said on Tuesday without citing the source of its information. Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, did not respond to requests for comment. Meituan did not respond either. The data showed that subsidies worked in China's ultra-competitive market. The industry was shifting from Meituan's 'near-monopoly to near-duopoly' with Alibaba's emergence, as the challenger lavished generous subsidies on customers, delivery riders and merchants to gain market share, Morgan Stanley said. The two companies are likely to have equal shares of China's on-demand delivery market by 2030, the bank said. Delivery riders on the streets of Shanghai on November 29, 2023. Photo: Shutterstock In food delivery, Meituan is set to dominate the market with a 75 per cent share in terms of gross transaction value by 2030, but its share in the entire instant commerce industry may fall to 48 per cent, almost the same as the 47 per cent share taken by Alibaba, according to Morgan Stanley's estimates.
