Didi, the Chinese version of Uber

Uber’s Chinese competition is poised to make the fight on the global stage. Didi Chuxing, the on-demand carrier that dominates the Chinese market and is supported by Apple, has just released a version for its application in English.

The new service.

The new service is still in beta mode and is currently only available in three cities. Users in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will have access to the English interface after they update or install the latest version of the application.

Non-Chinese speakers benefits.

Didi’s clients who do not read or speak Chinese will also benefit from a new service: The ability to exchange messages with drivers through a real-time translation function. Good news for foreigners visiting or living in China, but bad news for Uber. In this way, users can ask in English to take them to a destination, and the app instantly translates the request in Chinese for the driver to find out.

Last year Didi phased out Uber’s global application in China, forcing people to download Uber China if they wanted to continue using the service.

No English version for Uber in China.

The Uber China application is not available in English; it has not received significant updates in recent months and does not receive international credit cards. Instead, Didi’s new application receives credit cards from nine countries, including the United States, Britain and Brazil.

Didi goes for more.

Didi is not shy in its global ambitions. The company launched a research laboratory in artificial intelligence in Silicon Valley, in March, with guaranteed financing to be the second most valuable venture in the world, two months ago.

Recently, the company also said it is ready to challenge Uber in Latin America.

Uber’s move.

But the twists and turns of the on-demand transportation industry has produced some strange neighbors. When Didi took over Uber China’s operations, Uber became Didi’s largest shareholder as part of the business, and Didi had a minority stake in Uber.

That means Uber has a significant stake in a company that seems poised to eliminate, eventually its brand in China and compete with it in the international markets.

Didi’s partners.          

Didi Chuxing, claims to have received $ 1 billion from Apple’s technology giant in the United States. This is the largest single investment that Didi has received. Apple thus becomes a strategic investor in the company. Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, says the move will help the company better understand the Chinese market.

In addition to Apple, Didi counts with the support of more than 100 investors, including internet giant Alibaba and Japanese technology company Softbank.

Since Didi now has a value close to 50,000 million dollars, there is only one other venture that is worth more: Uber.