Yesterday, Meituan announced the official launch of Keeta in Qatar, where the Chinese food delivery giant’s overseas arm has been operating since 11 a.m. local time on August 19.
This did not come out of nowhere. Back in June, at the annual general meeting, Meituan CEO Wang Xing outlined plans to expand into several Gulf countries. In early July, Keeta launched its Founding Vendor Program in Qatar to recruit merchant partners, and just a week ago, it began a teaser campaign on Instagram. Now, the launch marks Meituan’s second overseas destination after Saudi Arabia, with further expansion into the UAE, Kuwait, and Brazil underway.
The most intriguing aspect of this announcement lies in the narrative it hints at: “In China, we’ll compete in the rat race with rivals to the very end, yet our greater mission is to rise above it and embrace the boundless opportunities of global markets.” We’ve translated a few passages from the announcement; you can get a feel for just how much it highlights “internationalization”:
- Since 2023, Meituan has actively responded to the national call to “lead development, create employment, and play a prominent role in international competition”. Powered by technology, the company has been fostering new business models, engaging in global competition, and striving to deliver better service experiences for users worldwide.Food delivery technologies and services from China are increasingly trusted by foreign consumers and merchant partners. These efforts demonstrate that the technologies, expertise, and models refined in China’s massive domestic market can be leveraged across broader global markets – deepening industrial cooperation and integration, and achieving a high-level, high-quality path to “going global”*.Meituan remains committed to the principle of “strengthening core capabilities at home while exploring new frontiers abroad”. Internationalization is one of Meituan’s long-term strategies. Competing at a high level globally not only allows China’s local-life service experience to reach the world, but also provides opportunities for Meituan to sharpen its capabilities.By breaking away from domestic “involution” and moving toward globalization, we aspire to gradually transform “China’s experience” into “global solutions”. In doing so, Chinese technology companies can create greater value on the world stage – helping more people eat better and live better.
In China, food delivery platforms of companies like Meituan and Alibaba were engaged in fierce subsidy battles for some time, though the price war has wound down recently, after drawing scrutiny and pushback from the government. Against this backdrop, Meituan’s latest announcement serves as a form of “dual signaling,” positioning itself as a future member of the “Chinese giants overseas club.”
Two interpretations exist here. On the one hand, Meituan is signaling to domestic audiences that the current subsidy war is not its true intention. Instead, its real focus aligns with the national policy priorities: to break free from domestic “involution” and actively pursue an internationalization path of “going global strategy”.
On the other hand, this announcement also speaks to the international market. Some had assumed that domestic subsidy battles would slow Meituan’s overseas expansion. Instead, this statement, taken together with its recent moves abroad, reaffirms the company’s commitment: Meituan is ambitious to contest leadership globally and confident in exporting a proven formula in China to international markets.
Speaking of its “proven formula in China”, the subsidy battle in Qatar has now truly kicked off. New users of Keeta receive QAR 200 (about USD 55) in e-coupons upon registration – a level of generosity that is expected to quickly boost Keeta’s penetration rate. How will Qatar’s two existing players, Talabat under Delivery Hero and Snoonu recently acquired by Jahez, react to this?
Meituan’s announcement further confirmed its future expansion plans: “In the future, Keeta will continue to deepen its presence in the Middle East, gradually expanding into more countries and regions within the Gulf Cooperation Council. We also plan to officially enter Brazil within the coming months, bringing South American users a better experience in quick commerce.”
What’s subtle here is the choice of words: while the rest of the statement refers to “food delivery”, the service described for the South American market is positioned instead as “quick commerce”.
*: Going Global Strategy is China’s current strategy to encourage its enterprises to invest overseas.
The post Amid subsidy war at home, Meituan launches Keeta in Qatar first appeared on The Low Down - Momentum Works.
