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Chinese, US ride-hailing apps in anti-Uber deal

SAN FRANCISCO — Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Kuaidi — in which Temasek Holdings is an investor — has agreed to a cross-border partnership with Lyft of the United States in a deal that will allow each company to serve the other’s passengers and aligns them against a common competitor: Uber.

SAN FRANCISCO — Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Kuaidi — in which Temasek Holdings is an investor — has agreed to a cross-border partnership with Lyft of the United States in a deal that will allow each company to serve the other’s passengers and aligns them against a common competitor: Uber.

The partnership offers somewhat of a novel approach to international expansion. Didi Kuaidi will allow Lyft users from the United States to find rides in China using the Lyft app. Didi Kuaidi will fulfill those ride requests using its drivers, while Lyft users will not have to leave the app to download or sign up for any new services.

Didi Kuaidi will have much the same agreement with Lyft for its users. Chinese users entering the United States can find a ride using the Didi Kuaidi app, with those rides being fulfilled by Lyft. The partnership will also allow passengers to pay for rides in their native currency.

Didi Kuaidi president Jean Liu said the partnership, which goes live early next year, opened “a brand new era for the global rideshare industry”.

Didi Kuaidi invested US$100 million (S$139.92 million) in San Francisco-based Lyft under the agreement announced yesterday.

The companies will take advantage of each other’s knowledge of local regulations, especially important in China, which has stymied many tech companies’ attempts to enter that market, and share new technology and products. The partnership is also set to pit the companies against Uber, the huge on-demand ride company that has raised more than US$7 billion in venture capital and is valued at more than US$50 billion.

Although Didi Kuaidi remains the dominant ride-hailing app in its home country, Uber is a threat. It recently closed a US$1.2 billion deal to enter 100 more Chinese cities in the next 12 months. Agencies

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