{"id":8150,"date":"2021-07-10T07:51:21","date_gmt":"2021-07-10T07:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=8150"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:52:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:52:16","slug":"what-is-happening-to-didi-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/what-is-happening-to-didi-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s happening to Didi in China?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ride-hailing app Didi is under investigation and has been removed from app stores just days after its IPO in the latest crackdown on China\u2019s tech industry that has also affected Alibaba, Tencent and Bytedance, writes Robynne Tindall. So what is Didi and what’s next for the app?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Who or what is Didi?<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

Didi, officially known as Didi Chuxing Technology co., is an online vehicle-for-hire-service. Its services include taxi-hailing, private car-hailing (including different levels of vehicles, up to premium luxury cars), bike-sharing, and van hire for freight and logistics. In China, the app \u2014 which can also be accessed via mini-programmes in the WeChat<\/a> and Alipay<\/a> apps \u2014 is available in Chinese and English. <\/span><\/p>\n

Didi was founded in 2012 by Will Cheng, who remains on board as CEO. Softbank\u2019s Vision Fund is the largest shareholder, with 21.5% ownership, followed by Uber, which retains a 12.8% stake following Didi\u2019s acquisition of Uber\u2019s China arm in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Is Didi popular in China?<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

Didi has an estimated 90% share of the ride-hailing market in China, operating in around 400 cities. According to its IPO prospectus, it has 377 million annual active users as of 2021, and 156 million average monthly active users from January to March 2021. Outside of China, Didi operates in 15 countries, including Brazil, Mexico, and Russia. <\/span><\/p>\n

What is the background to Didi\u2019s IPO?<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

Didi filed early stage IPO paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 10 June. The filing highlighted the company\u2019s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, reporting a net income of RMB 196 million (\u00a321.9 million) in Q1 2021, up from a loss of RMB 4 million (\u00a3447.7 million) the previous year. <\/span><\/p>\n

The company completed its IPO in New York on 30 June 2021, raising $4.4 billion (\u00a33.19 billion) at $14.14 a share (1% up from the offer price of $14), giving it a valuation of around $70 billion. By contrast, Uber\u2019s share price dropped more than 7% on the first day of trading.<\/span><\/p>\n