As Uber sets its sights on becoming the dominant ride-hailing service all over the world, it faces an uphill battle against skeptical foreign governments. And UberChina, launched in 2013, is no exception–in May, the police raided the company’s offices, due to suspicion that it was not properly registered with commercial authorities.?
But Uber faces another big roadblock in China: a local ride-sharing company. Didi Kuaidi is a Chinese-based company, and with a recent funding round of $2 billion, is eager to take on its U.S. competitor. According to Re/Code, in July Didi Kuaidi was averaging 3 million rides a day in China, compared to Uber’s 1 million. Didi Kuaidi’s president, Jean Liu, sat down with the Wall Street Journal last week to discuss why the startup is so successful. Some highlights:
A trillion-dollar market.
Eight hundred million people in China live in cities. Liu estimates that currently, only about 30 million people take taxis, due to a shortage. Didi Kuaidi’s aim is that one day, everyone in China will commute through a ride-hailing service. That means that ride-sharing companies have the potential to crack a trillion-dollar market. And Liu believes Didi Kuaidi can do that; over 200 million people have used its services since it launched three years ago, she told the Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Krim.
Read more at?INC.
