Overview of the most popular ride-hailing apps in China.
| Company | Active Users |
|---|---|
 Caocao Zhuanche | 5 million |
 Dida Pinche | 80 million |
 Didi Chuxing | 550 million |
 Yidao YongChe | 3 million |
History of ride-hailing in China
Worldwide, just one company controls the whole ride-hailing and ridesharing industry. That company is Softbank. This Japanese investment firm has major participations in all rideshare companies that matter, also in China.
The ride hailing company that outperforms all competition in China is Didi Chuxing, which was founded in 2012. In the period 2014-2016 global ridesharing pioneer Uber was competing fiercely with Didi. During this duel both Didi and Uber were subsidising rides, while at the same time spending serious money on marketing. This battle came to an end when Didi bought Uber in 2016.
Fundamentally, Didi succeeded in China because they are a locally founded company that is well connected with the Chinese government.
It’s interesting to note that Softbank partly owns both Uber and Didi Chuxing.
Didi Chuxing competitors
Uber is out of the picture in China, but there are other carsharing companies trying to rival with Didi Chuxing: Caocao Zhuanche, Dida Pinche and Yidao Yongche, all locally founded startups.
With about 80 million active users, Dida is the second largest ride-hailing app in China. Of course, if they keep growing, it’s probably only a matter of time before Softbank tries to buy them.
Didi and electric cars
About 30 million drivers offer rides for rideshare application Didi Chuxing. According to the company, about 400.000 of those drivers offer rides with environmentally friendly vehicles, like hybrids and electric cars.
Of course, there is a lot of room for improvement. That’s why Didi announced a partnership with Beijing Electric Vehicle Co., an EV subsidiary of state-owned automotive company BAIC, in January 2019. Through the partnership, Didi drivers supposedly will get better deals for purchasing an electric car.