MNI China Press Digest July 25: Minerals, Meituan, Competition

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

• Chinese officials are strengthening their coordination against the smuggling and export of strategic minerals with a zero tolerance for such cases, said He Yadong, spokesperson at the Ministry of Commerce. Authorities in the past two months have investigated a number of illegal export cases and arrested several smuggling suspects, He added. Looking ahead, China will establish a joint enforcement and coordination centre for the export control of dual-use items.
• The integrated digital platform Meituan held a meeting in Shanghai to address the high-quality development of the food delivery industry, Yicai.com reported. At the meeting, a number of national chain brands, local catering and individual merchants said they were forced into price wars, with the unit price of takeaways falling by CNY7 to CNY10, with income down 15%. A director of a national noodle brand said the use of subsidies had reduced the unit price of CNY25 to around CNY10 yuan. "We had to join the price war and accept subsidies to retain customers," the director said.
• The State Administration for Market Regulation will deepen the rectification of "involutionary" competition through strengthening quality, safety and technical governance and increase the exposure of illegal cases, Yicai.com has reported. The ministry will build a product quality standards system, advocate for high quality and prices, and guide enterprises to compete in an orderly manner, Yicai added. The number of sampling batches of online goods subject to random inspections will increase 70% in 2025 y/y.