Editor's note: "Cooperation gains; confrontation loses". More and more Chinese companies have realized the essence of this old Chinese saying after cutthroat wars with their fellow rivals, with unsustainable cash-burning strategies like massive price cuts, favorable retail rates and return bonuses, which seemed to only benefit customers and lead neither side to absolute superiority.

Major rivals in many fields have gradually understood that "together is better" and that working in unison toward a common purpose, like ganging up against a common foe, would turn out to be a much smarter choice. Let's take a look at several cases of Chinese rivals merging that wowed the market.

Chinese people love to check Dianping.com, a Yelp-like review site, to choose a restaurant. They also love to check Meituan.com, a Groupon-like site, to see if there are any discounts. [Chen Boyuan/China.org.cn]

1. Dianping.com and Meituan.com

Shanghai-based Yelp-like review website Dianping.com and Beijing-based group discount platform Meituan.com, two previous rivals, buried the hatchet as they announced to join forces to form a new company on Oct. 8, 2015, that will become "a leading platform in the Chinese O2O sector".

The combination, which will retain both companies' personal management structures, brands and independent business operations, will create a US$15 billion provider of local services including restaurant reviews and movie bookings.

"It only took a long holiday to turn us from foe to friend, but it could take relentless efforts to take care of our relationship," said Wang Xing, CEO of Meituan.com.

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