Chinese food delivery giant Meituan (3690) pledged to invest 100 billion yuan (HK$106.2 billion) in the food and beverage industry in the next three years, as e-commerce giant JD.com (9618) further intensified the domestic competition.
The investment aims to help the industry to develop healthily, said Xue Bing, head of the takeout division at Meituan, mainland media reported.
Meituan noticed that the takeout business still maintains high growth and that the price war is gradually returning to rationality. But the company also found restaurants have difficulties in opening more large-sized outlets due to the required heavy investment at the site location, rent and manpower.
Therefore, Xue said Meituan will utilize 100 billion yuan to help merchants with consumer subsidies, offer funds to increase revenues, support quality restaurants and assist stores in improving their kitchens.
Last week, the food delivery newcomer JD.com announced a 10 billion yuan subsidy policy, relaunching a cash-burning battle to seize consumers.
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