Off the wire
• Roundup: Preliminary reports say 34 dead, 212 injured in Afghanistan's earthquake  • 2nd LD-Writethru: Premier Li to visit ROK, attend China-Japan-ROK summit  • Official warns of Israel withdrawing Palestinians' residency in Jerusalem  • At least 5 killed in Baghdad attack  • U.S. stocks open narrowly mixed ahead of Fed meeting  • UN human rights chief condemns attack on Afghanistan's relief staff  • Chinese state councilor meets Danish FM  • Swiss businesses adjust to strong Swiss Franc amid uncertain economic outlook  • German business climate index declines slightly in October  • More than 11,000 refugees arrive in S. Germany over weekend  
You are here: 　 Home

Chinese travel rivals Ctrip, Qunar form partnership

Xinhua, October 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

China's two largest online travel websites, Ctrip.com and Baidu-backed Qunar, have effectively formed a partnership after a share swap deal between the two rivals.

Under the deal announced on Monday, Baidu will own shares representing 25 percent of Ctrip's voting interests, while Ctrip will own about 45 percent of Qunar's voting interests.

Four representatives from Ctrip will be appointed to Qunar's board of directors, and Baidu chairman Robin Li and vice president Tony Yip will join Ctrip's board.

The alliance will reshape China's fiercely competitive market for online travel.

The share prices of the New York-listed firms rallied after the news. Ctrip.com has a market valuation of around 13 billion U.S. dollars, while Qunar is valued at 6 billion U.S. dollars during Monday's trading in Nasdaq.

The deal is the latest in a series of tie-ups between rival Internet firms. Group-buying and restaurant-review websites Meituan and Dianping announced a merger this month.

In February, taxi hailing firms Didi and Kuaidi joined forces and the new firm is now valued at 16.5 billion U.S. dollars. Endi