July 20，Tongcheng.com releases summer “100 million red envelopes”，1,000 yuan per person” promotion plan。This “100 billion promotion” comes after Tongcheng received a new round of financing，The first round of large-scale promotions launched。

Such a generous move also attracted the outside world’s attention to Wanda、Tencent and other giants have just invested 6 billion yuan in Tongcheng。July 3，Wanda announces 35.800 million yuan investment in Tongcheng，Tencent、CITIC and other capital investors，Total 6 billion yuan。After financing is completed，Wanda becomes the largest shareholder of Tongcheng，Tongcheng’s valuation also exceeds 10 billion yuan。

But it is worth noting，The second largest shareholder before Tongcheng、Ctrip, the leader in the online travel industry, does not appear in the investor list。Another thing worth mentioning is，Tongcheng CEO Wu Zhixiang was born in Alibaba，Now behind Tongcheng is Wanda、Tencent and Ctrip and other giants，There is no Ali。

To this，Wu Zhixiang in an exclusive interview with a reporter from the 21st Century Business Herald，Detailed explanation of the ins and outs of this arrangement，And how various capitals compete and balance in the same process。

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End of last year，Tongcheng and Tuniu, two online travel companies, frequently go to war，From marketing to business，Back to capital，Both have become the focus of attack and defense for both sides。

“At that time, Tuniu called on investors not to invest 188bet online sports betting in us，For a moment，We think a little bit angry，I will raise some funds for you to see。" Wu Zhixiang said with a smile when mentioning an episode in this round of financing plan。But he also knows it，Although there is still money in the account，But if you want to have a place in this industry，A new round of financing is necessary。

February and April last year，Tongcheng has received a total investment of nearly 2 billion yuan from Tencent and Ctrip。Therefore，Wu Zhixiang is not in a hurry during this round of financing，“Looking for institutions with a certain level of investment scale。"Wu Zhixiang told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter。

The final choice of Wanda was a complete accident。Previously，Tongcheng has been in contact with some investment institutions。once，Wu Zhixiang went to Beijing to communicate with an investment institution，Stayed at Wanda Hotel the night before，And just an hour before going to meet investors，Wu Zhixiang came up with the idea of ​​talking to Wanda。This is also an "accident"，Directly led to Wanda’s subsequent investment in Tongcheng。

Wu Zhixiang said，Tongcheng had no cooperation with Wanda before，The only cooperation occurred last year during the "war" with Tuniu。According to him，At that time, Tuniu called on upstream suppliers to stop cooperating with Tongcheng，Tongcheng is trying to break through，Start looking for more suppliers，This includes Wanda’s tourism business - but this is just a business cooperation between suppliers and platforms。

Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin does not know much about the specific situation of online tourism，For Tongcheng，Little is known。For this，Wang Jianlin made a special trip to Shenzhen to communicate with Tencent CEO Ma Huateng。Tencent in 2012、Invested in Tongcheng.com in two rounds in 2014。

After determining the investment amount and shareholding ratio，Wu Zhixiang met Wang Jianlin。"Originally planned 1 hour，We last talked for 3 hours。" Wu Zhixiang said when recalling the 188bet sports betting app download meeting scene at that time。But about travel，The two sides only talked for less than half an hour。

His name，Wang Jianlin after discussing Wanda’s strategic thinking，It is recommended that Tongcheng “jump out of tourism and look at tourism”。“Some of Wanda’s plans are to look beyond China to see China，For example, the layout in India。He suggested that Tongcheng should not be too obsessed with price wars in the industry，This is not very critical for the overall future layout。"Wu Zhixiang said，“Tongcheng used to rush into the industry head-on，So his suggestions are very inspiring to us。”

“Look beyond tourism to see tourism” may also be the core of the cooperation between Tongcheng and Wanda at the business level。Wanda Cross Real Estate、Retail、Culture and other industries，For Tongcheng，This provides the basis for the integration of online and offline。

Wu Zhixiang said，Online，Tongcheng has Tencent’s WeChat and mobile QQ traffic portal，Wanda can provide huge offline traffic，There is a lot of room for imagination for both parties。For example, Wanda Cinema，Can be advertised、Convert film and television users into travel users through implantation and other methods。According to Wu Zhixiang，Tongcheng will join hands with Wanda to launch promotion activities in South Korea this week，This will greatly promote Tongcheng’s business at the destination。

In Wu Zhixiang’s opinion，Wanda not only provides huge traffic，The tourism resources it possesses offline also play a vital role for Tongcheng。For online travel platforms，The control of offline tourism resources is also a core advantage in competition，After this cooperation，It is also difficult for other platforms to strangle Tongcheng’s “throat” in terms of offline resources。

Balancing “boss-level” shareholders

From the year before last，The online travel industry is filled with smoke，The price war reappears the brutal fighting in the e-commerce field。And since 188bet sports betting app download last year，The industry begins to move towards capital integration，Ctrip became a shareholder of Tongcheng and Tuniu from a competitor overnight，Ctrip acquired eLong again this year.

At the same time，As rising stars, Tongcheng and Tuniu have also begun to look for Internet giants to rely on。After Tencent’s second round of investment in Tongcheng last year，May this year，Tuniu received US$500 million in financing led by JD.com，As understood，JD.com’s tourism business will be fully borne by Tuniu。

In comparison，Tongcheng, an online travel company based in Suzhou，But one after another acquired Tencent、Internet companies such as Ctrip and Wanda、Investment from traditional industry giants such as CITIC。But in the meantime，For many big-name shareholders，How Wu Zhixiang balances the interests？

The most typical one is，Ctrip is not included in the list of investment institutions in this round of financing，This has triggered speculation from the outside world，As a competitor at the business level，Does Tongcheng intentionally exclude Ctrip?？Will Ctrip just give up?？

To this，Wu Zhixiang explained to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter，“Mainly based on considerations of future IPO。”He said，Prepared to go public in the United States early last year，After Ctrip’s investment in April，Also supports Tongcheng to complete IPO before the end of the year，But another shareholder of Tongcheng is a state-owned enterprise，There are many issues that need to be dealt with during the VIE design and launch process，Therefore, we pause temporarily。

"Discovered this year，The wind direction suddenly changed，Many Internet companies are beginning to return to A-shares。"Wu Zhixiang said。Therefore，Wu Zhixiang communicated with Ctrip again，Finally both parties agree，Ctrip’s brand connects with overseas capital markets，Tongcheng’s brand connects with the domestic market。

But this idea soon encountered challenges，Because Ctrip has a VIE 188bet app download structure，If Tongcheng is listed on the A-share market，In accordance with domestic review and supervision mechanisms，Companies with VIE structures among major shareholders will cause a lot of uncertainty。This also means，In order for Tongcheng to be successfully listed on the A-share market，As the second largest shareholder, Ctrip is not suitable to increase its shares。Therefore，In a new round of financing，Ctrip is absent。

In this round of financing，Tencent’s third investment。Judging from previous public information，Tencent’s shareholding ratio in Tongcheng is far less than that of Ctrip。This may be a basic factor for Tongcheng to accept Tencent again。Wu Zhixiang said，This time Tencent followed the investment，The cooperation between the two parties at the business level has also taken a further step，For example, Tongcheng has been officially established as the sole provider of “air tickets and train tickets” services for WeChat and Mobile QQ。

“It was all experimental before，After all, WeChat’s traffic suddenly came in，Tongcheng cannot accept it。"Wu Zhixiang said，Under cooperation between both parties，Ma Huateng often puts forward suggestions on product modifications in the WeChat group in the middle of the night。

In fact，Wu Zhixiang regards WeChat and Mobile QQ as important sources of online traffic for Tongcheng on the mobile Internet。But from JD.com、Looking at the cooperation between Dianping and WeChat，The effect seems to be far less satisfactory than expected。

“The key depends on the resources invested。"Wu Zhixiang said。The market once thought，WeChat will be for JD.com、Dianping brings a huge breakthrough on the mobile side，But for many companies，They prefer to let users use their own APP。

But Wu Zhixiang doesn’t think so。He gave Baidu and Qunar as examples，Qunar relies on the “Aladdin” project in cooperation with Baidu，Rise in the PC era due to huge traffic，Until it competes with Ctrip。“WeChat is open，188bet app download Why doesn’t Tongcheng use its huge traffic to deploy mobile terminals？"Wu Zhixiang said，“It’s okay to leave half your life to your partners。”

18 months，Tongcheng received nearly 8 billion yuan in financing，In a highly competitive industry，Wu Zhixiang seems to no longer have to worry about funds。But at the business level，Except the original Ctrip、Where to go、Outside Tuniu，Meituan、Nuomi’s life service platform has also begun to enter the tourism industry，A new round of competition may begin。