Didi Kuaidi is poised to become the first legal ride-hailing service in Shanghai, under a pilot programme launched by the city’s government designed to bring online private taxi services into the economic mainstream.
In another sign of Didi Kuaidi’s favour with the state, China Investment Corp, the country’s sovereign-wealth fund, intends to invest in the company as part of a $2bn financing round, according to a person familiar with the situation. The CIC typically takes stakes in projects deemed to be strategic to the country.
The group said discussions with Shanghai authorities began in May and the new arrangement would begin with an initiative to register all drivers on the same information platform used by other conventional taxi drivers.