Ctrip and Qunar, China’s two largest online travel services, will form a partnership based on a stock swap.

Under the deal, Ctrip will gain a 45 percent ownership in Qunar, while Baidu, which has a 20 percent stake of Qunar, will own 25 percent of Ctrip.

Qunar had refused a buyout offer from Ctrip five months ago. According to data from Thompson Reuters, Ctrip is worth about $10.6 billion while Qunar is priced at $5.2 billion. Both companies have been fierce competitors in a travel market that has heated up considerably as an increasing number of affluent Chinese travel abroad.

Besides merging services and products, Ctrip and Qunar will also share members of their two board of executives.

The practice of share swaps has become an increasingly popular method to resolve competition for rival companies in China’s online service industry.

Earlier this month, online dining peer review companies Meituan.com and Dianping Holdings agreed to merge after years of fierce competition. Earlier this year, taxi-hailing apps Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, swapped shares worth $6 billion.