Alibaba’s mapping app, Amap, just had its busiest day ever. On the first day of China’s week-long National Day holiday, also known as Golden Week, the app saw a record 360 million people using it in a single day. That’s not all-Amap helped guide trips covering more than 9 billion kilometers, another all-time high, according to Alibaba.
The company also highlighted the debut of Amap’s new road safety feature, Eagle Eye Guardian. Launched just before the holiday, it sent out over 290 million alerts on Wednesday to warn drivers about unusual or risky driving behavior.
Battling Meituan in Local Services
The surge comes as Alibaba works to expand Amap into much more than just a navigation tool. The app is becoming a bigger part of the company’s strategy to take on Meituan, the food delivery and lifestyle services giant. Both companies are fighting to be the go-to platform for services that connect people with restaurants, hotels, tourist spots, and deliveries.
Back in August, Amap rolled out Xiaogao, its AI-powered assistant. Xiaogao handled more than 2.6 billion requests during the holiday, helping users with directions, travel plans, and even personalized recommendations-all through natural language commands.
AI-Powered Rankings to Attract More Users
Last month, Alibaba introduced Amap Street Stars, a new feature that ranks restaurants, hotels, and attractions using AI. It combines navigation data with user reviews to recommend the best places to visit. Analysts at JPMorgan called it “a significant step towards Alibaba’s vision for a super-app strategy” and said it could pose “another hit to Meituan’s cash cow.”
Jefferies analysts also noted the feature could strengthen Amap’s role as a lifestyle gateway, beyond just maps and navigation. On launch day, more than 40 million users tried the ranking system.
Meituan, meanwhile, responded quickly. The company announced that it will use AI to screen consumer reviews on its Dianping app and launch a new “quality food delivery” service to boost its edge.
Amap’s Place in Alibaba’s Bigger Picture
Amap, which also offers ride-hailing services, was previously part of Alibaba’s Local Services Group. Now, it’s listed under “all other” businesses as the company streamlines operations to focus on its main e-commerce and cloud divisions.
Even so, Amap is one of China’s most-used apps. As of June, it ranked fourth in monthly active users, behind WeChat, Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), and Taobao. Between April and June, Amap averaged nearly 896 million monthly users, while WeChat led with 1.1 billion.
The Bigger Battle for Consumers
The intense competition between Alibaba, Meituan, and other internet players reflects a broader push to dominate China’s instant shopping and lifestyle services market. Companies are restructuring and combining business units to strengthen their ecosystems.
Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu Yongming summed up the company’s ambition in August, saying the long-term goal is to build a “comprehensive consumption platform” that serves consumers’ “full spectrum of shopping and daily life needs.”
“We aim to offer the best experience to the largest consumer base with the highest purchase frequency” to ultimately lead in a 30 trillion yuan (US$4.2 trillion) market, he said.
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