SHANGHAI, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Alibaba's ( BABA )

mapping app Amap is moving away from its traditional focus on

navigation and is encroaching further into rival Meituan's ( MPNGF )

local-lifestyle territory by launching its own ranking

of restaurants, hotels and tourist destinations.

Alibaba ( BABA ) and Meituan ( MPNGF ) 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.

This has also drawn increased scrutiny from regulators who

are worried about a downward price spiral in China, where weak

property prices and poor job stability have contributed to a

persistent consumer malaise, pressuring companies into

aggressive pricing and subsidies to get people spending.

Amap's new function, announced Wednesday, will be known as

"Street Stars" and will use artificial intelligence algorithms

to rank destinations for Amap's 170 million daily active users.

Amap is offering 1 billion yuan ($140.43 million) in

subsidies for users to get coupons for ride-hailing or in-store

services as part of the new service's launch, which will

initially cover 300 cities and 1.6 million listings for local

businesses.

Chinese consumers have long relied on apps such as Meituan's ( MPNGF )

Dazhong Dianping to research restaurant recommendations, make

bookings and more.

On a recent post-earnings call with analysts, Alibaba Group ( BABA )

CEO Eddie Wu pointed to the AI transformation of Amap and its

positioning to become a "new gateway for future lifestyle

services" as part of Alibaba's ( BABA ) plan to create what it calls a

"comprehensive consumption platform".

Questions remain about the role Chinese regulators might

have in those plans. Authorities have already summoned China's

top e-commerce and food delivery firms for multiple meetings,

and a continuing price war contravenes official government

messaging warning against a race-to-the-bottom competition.

($1 = 7.1209 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)