Alibaba, Ant combine forces to take on Meituan in China's instant commerce market

Alibaba Group Holding and its fintech affiliate Ant Group, both co-founded by Jack Ma, have joined forces to create an army of delivery service workers to defeat Meituan in the instant commerce market.

A total of 22 businesses operated by Alibaba and Ant, including domestic online marketplaces Taobao and Tmall, Ant's Alipay payment service and Alibaba Cloud, have pledged to improve the conditions of millions of delivery riders.

Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

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Alibaba's move to pool resources from different units - which also include food delivery service Ele.me, fresh food store Freshippo and online travel booking site Fliggy - is being promoted as a public welfare campaign, but it marks the first time since 2020 that all of the group's key brands are on the same page.

Alibaba has walked back from an earlier plan to spin off its sprawling business empire into independent entities. Late last year, the company merged its domestic and overseas e-commerce operations into one unit under newly appointed CEO Jiang Fan.

This month, Alibaba rolled out a new membership programme spanning a range of services, from online marketplaces and food delivery to travel bookings.

According to a statement from Taobao on Monday, Alibaba's delivery riders would be equipped with a new orange uniform in the style of a racing suit. The company pledged to provide better welfare coverage for its riders and set up special funds to support the education and healthcare needs of riders and their family members.

Food delivery riders from Ele.me (left) and Meituan pass each other on the street in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, May 14, 2025. Photo: VCG via Getty Images alt=Food delivery riders from Ele.me (left) and Meituan pass each other on the street in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, May 14, 2025. Photo: VCG via Getty Images>

The company will also provide more options for retirement and medical care. Further, occupational injury insurance for riders will be extended to more provinces, fully covering costs so that riders have a better sense of security.

Alibaba's efforts to improve the conditions of delivery workers - many of whom are working on a contract basis without benefits - comes as the e-commerce giant is digging in its heels to win the battle in the instant commerce market, where speed and quality of delivery are key to satisfying consumer demands.

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Alibaba's food delivery crew previously worked under the Ele.me brand, and wore blue uniforms, in contrast to the yellow outfits of the dominant player Meituan. This year, Alibaba has fought to increase its market share by offering aggressive subsidies to both merchants and consumers.

Alibaba's daily delivery volume briefly surpassed Meituan in early August after it offered free drinks to customers who ordered through its service, according to tech media outlet LatePost.

On Sunday, Ele.me CEO Fan Yu informed delivery teams that they would be upgraded to "City Riders", suggesting that they would work not just for Ele.me but also for Alibaba's other services. The change would "promote more standardised occupations, more systematic protection, and more effective incentives", Fan said.

Another instant commerce rival, JD.com, said on Tuesday that it had paid for five different types of insurance for riders, including pension and medical insurance, as well as housing provident fund payments, amounting to a total average monthly outlay of about 2,000 yuan (US$278) per rider.

"With the development of the food delivery industry, the profits and market capitalisation of several major platforms can support the cost of paying social security for riders in full," JD.com said.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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