Alibaba mapping app steps into local business rankings, intensifying competition

Alibaba’s mapping app Amap is moving away from its traditional focus on navigation and is encroaching further into rival Meituan’s local-lifestyle territory by launching its own ranking of restaurants, hotels and tourist destinations.

Alibaba and Meituan are among the prominent tech companies in China locked in a bitter battle for market share in “instant retail”, flooding consumers with discounts and coupons in the booming one-hour delivery segment.