If Didi Chuxing Technology Co., the Uber of China, succeeds in the initial public offering in 2018, it will bypass Uber to become the world’s first publicly listed ride-hailing company.
Didi released its 2017 data on the afternoon of January 8. In 2017, Didi provided more than 7.43 billion trips to 450 million users in more than 400 Chinese cities, excluding trips for bikes and driver services. That is roughly equal to everyone in China using Didi five times in the past year.
Two Chinese online life service giants have stepped into the car-hailing business. Ctrip, a leading provider of travel services, launched car rental business together with Didi, Shouqi Group and AA Car Rent. At the same time, Meituan.com, a Chinese group buying website, launched a taxi service in seven cities.
2017 has seen the rise and fall of numerous new technologies and business models, stunning and mediocre products, and the rise and collapse of tech giants. At the end of the year, Tencent launched into the Top 10 companies in technology industry.
Didi’s two rounds of financing in 2017 totaled between US $9.5 billion and $10.5 billion. According to a Renaissance Capital report, there were 37 science and technology IPOs in the US that attracted $9.9 billion in financing in 2017. That would mean Didi’s total capital raised this year is more than the total technology IPOs…
Li Shufu said Geely, Volvo and other car companies are jointly developing an open electric model under the code PMA. “We’ve learned from Google’s Android, and PMA’s pure electric module is open,” Li said.
