"Tripartite rivalry" — Phrase of the Week
China’s three big online platforms compete for market share in new battleground of instant retail
Our phrase of the week is: "tripartite rivalry" (三足鼎立 sānzú dǐnglì)
Context
On July 5, China’s largest food delivery company, Meituan (美团), rolled out a massive coupon campaign. The surge in traffic briefly crashed the app, and “Meituan crashed” (美团崩了) quickly began trending online.
Meituan has been locked in a battle with JD, China’s second-largest e-commerce platform, since April this year, fighting for dominance in the booming and lucrative "instant retail" (即时零售) market.
The July 5 “Crazy Saturday” (疯狂星期六), a play on KFC’s viral “Crazy Thursdays” (疯狂星期四) campaign, marked Meituan’s latest strike in that war.
But this time, it wasn’t just about JD. A third competitor had entered the battle: Taobao (淘宝), China’s largest e-commerce platform, operated by Alibaba.
In late April, Taobao launched its own instant retail arm, Taobao Flash Buy (淘宝闪购) offering discounts to attract users to the platform, surpassing 60 million daily orders by the end of June. Then, on July 2, it turned up the heat with a 50-billion-yuan ($6.8 billion) subsidy blitz.
Meituan’s “Crazy Saturday” coupons, flooding the internet just three days later, were widely seen as a direct counterstrike.
JD remains in the battle too, with founder, Richard Liu (刘强东), leading from the front.
While the three giants are locked in a fierce battle for dominance, the Chinese media reached for a classic idiom to capture the moment:
JD Food Delivery now receives over 25 million orders per day on average, capturing over 31% of China’s food delivery market.
In the premium segment, it holds roughly 45% market share, firmly establishing itself as a key contender in the tripartite rivalry with Meituan and Eleme.
京东外卖日均订单量已突破2500万单，占据全国外卖市场超31%的份额，在品质外卖细分领域约有45%的市场占有率，与美团、饿了么共同构建起“三足鼎立”的行业新格局。
Jīngdōng wàimài rìjūn dìngdān liàng yǐ tūpò 2500 wàn dān, zhànjù quánguó wàimài shìchǎng chāo 31% de fèn'é, zài pǐnzhì wàimài xìfēn lǐngyù yuē yǒu 45% de shìchǎng zhànyǒu lǜ, yǔ Měituán, Èleme gòngtóng gòujiàn qǐ “sānzú dǐnglì” de hángyè xīn géjú.
And with that, we have our Sinica Phrase of the Week.
What it means
“Tripartite rivalry” is a vivid idiom that translates literally as “three legs” (三足 sān zú), “bronze cauldron” (鼎 dǐng), and “standing” (立 lì).
It describes a standoff between three powerful forces, each strong enough to keep the others in check, just like an ancient bronze cauldron which stands upright only when all three legs are firm.
The idiom first appeared in Records of the Grand Historian (史记), written by the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian (司马迁). Completed around 94 BCE, the work covers over 2,000 years of Chinese history, from the legendary Yellow Emperor to Sima Qian’s own time under Emperor Wu of Han.
In the chapter, The Marquis of Huaiyin (淮阴侯列传), a famous line reads:
“When the world is dominated by three parties, like the three legs of the bronze cauldron, a balance of power is achieved.”
“三分天下，鼎足而居。”
sān fēn tiān xià, dǐng zú ér jū
This statement is set during the Chu–Han Contention (楚汉争霸), a four-year period of civil war and political turmoil following the collapse of the Qin dynasty in 206 BCE.
Two main figures rose in this power vacuum: Xiang Yu (项羽), an aristocratic military commander from the former state of Chu (楚), and Liu Bang (刘邦), a former peasant turned rebel leader who would eventually go on to found the Han (汉) dynasty.
From 206 to 202 BCE, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang fought a series of brutal battles for control of China.
Amid this struggle, a third political force began to emerge, Han Xin (韩信).
Han Xin was a brilliant general serving under Liu Bang, and became a decisive force in Liu’s victories on the battle field. Han had a loyal advisor, Kuai Tong (蒯通), who urged his boss to break away from Liu Bang and form an independent power bloc, arguing that Han Xin could create a “tripartite balance of power” between himself, Liu Bang, and Xiang Yu, using the vivid metaphor, “Three legs of the bronze cauldron, a balance of power is achieved” (鼎足而居).
Kuai Tong believed this would protect Han Xin from future betrayal. But Han Xin, loyal and cautious, rejected the idea. That loyalty would later cost him his life. After founding the Han dynasty in 202 BCE, Liu Bang viewed Han Xin as a threat, and eventually had him executed.
Back to the present day: the classical four-character phrase from the Records has evolved into the modern idiom, “tripartite rivalry” (三足鼎立). It refers to any situation where three major powers, whether people, companies, or political factions, compete while holding one another in check.
In China’s rapidly expanding instant delivery market, analysts now point to a new “tripartite rivalry” between Meituan, JD, and the newest entrant, Taobao.
Each brings distinct strengths and vulnerabilities to the fight — and for now, the balance of power holds.
Andrew Methven is the author of RealTime Mandarin, a resource which helps you bridge the gap to real-world fluency in Mandarin, stay informed about China, and communicate with confidence—all through weekly immersion in real news. Subscribe for free here.
Read more about how this epic battle is being discussed in the Chinese media:
Online platforms compete for market share in new battleground of instant retail (July, 2025)
JD and Meituan battle for supremacy in food delivery and instant retail (May, 2025)
Meituan “group take-out” boom signals shifting consumer habits (November, 2024)
Founder of JD.com criticised after internal speech goes viral (June, 2024)