Reports surfaced on the morning of June 18th alleging that MEITUAN had offered monetary incentives to gather damaging information on competitors, sparking significant public attention.

In response, Taobao Flash Express issued a statement expressing profound shock and anger regarding the contents disclosed in the media report titled "Meituan Exposed for Offering Rewards to Collect Rival 'Dirt'". The company highlighted that just days prior, Sichuan police had uncovered a case where a certain company was found to have long-term hired agencies to fabricate false information, carrying out organized, systematic, and comprehensive smear campaigns and rumor attacks against Taobao Flash Express and JD Delivery.

Taobao Flash Express stated that these malicious actions distort normal market competition, continuously create and incite social panic, and represent not only typical internal involution but also cross legal boundaries. They cause significant damage to the broader goal of boosting consumption and stimulating domestic demand.

According to the media reports, around the end of 2025, MEITUAN had reportedly set task targets for its frontline business personnel, initiating a special research activity targeting numerous offline catering stores across Beijing. The initiative allegedly involved offering monetary rewards to a wide net of merchants to collect "negative cases" related to its competitors.

For instance, the person in charge of the "Happy Dumplings" store confirmed to reporters that after discovering an excessively low actual selling price for a dumpling product on the "Explosive Deals Group" platform, a MEITUAN business manager requested he provide related materials. Subsequently, a complaint was filed against Taobao Flash Express, for which the store received a 5,000 yuan reward.