China's internet landscape is never short of stories about overnight success. But when it comes to Didi Chuxing, the country's largest ride-hailing platform, its rapid ascent has still amazed many people. Within just five years, the startup, founded with 800,000 yuan ($121,000), has grown into a heavyweight with a valuation of $50 billion.[Special Coverage]
Its success underlines how the mobile internet technology is spawning a tide of innovation in China and how thousands of startups are scrambling to jump onto the bandwagon of digital economy.
According to global consulting firm CB Insights, China is now home to more than 50 unicorns - startups valued at more than $1 billion each - among 214 unicorns worldwide. The country has the largest number of unicorns outside the United States and Didi is ranked the second most valuable startup, after its rival Uber Technologies Inc.
Jonathan Woetzel, a director of the McKinsey Global Institute and lead author of the report "China's digital economy: a leading global force", said China has one of the most active digital-investment and startup ecosystems in the world.
"Beyond scale, it is the enthusiasm for digital tools among China's consumers that will support growth, facilitate rapid adoption of innovation, and make Chinese digital players and their business models competitive," Woetzel said.
According to him, China's digital globalization is only just getting started but is gathering momentum, with local companies scrambling to venture out beyond their home-turf to search for opportunities.
One of such typical players is Didi. Sitting on an abundant cash reserve and powered by over 7,000 employees, the Beijing-based company is making stronger and faster moves on overseas expansion as well as business extension into next-generation technologies, including new energy vehicles and driverless cars.
When Didi acquired global ride-sharing giant Uber's China services a year ago, it secured absolute dominance in the Chinese market. As of now, more than 450 million users and 21 million drivers are using services from this on-demand mobility company.
And the fight is coming to the overseas markets where the company said it is confident of competing with Uber. It is stepping on the accelerator of global expansion, chiefly by partnering with a number of ride-hailing companies in foreign countries.
The company set up an international business department in February. Cheng Wei, founder and CEO of Didi, said: "We are seeking to be the biggest operator of automobiles in the world."
In August, Didi announced it would invest in Dubai-based ride-hailing platform Careem, a week after it announced cooperation with Estonia-based Taxify, as the company steps up its push into markets such as the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
It also allied with Japan's Soft-Bank to inject around $2 billion into its existing partner Grab, and cooperated with Brazil-based taxi on-demand service 99, Uber's major U.S. competitor Lyft, global car-rental firm Avis Budget Group, and India's ride-hailing company Ola.
Most of these platforms are fierce competitors of Uber in their respective regions. Building local partnerships with these influential local partners, which is a faster way than starting from scratch, has given a strong impetus to Didi's global presence.
