If you haven't heard of it, Alibaba is a Chinese e-commerce company that started as a e-marketplace and now has grown to offer other services like electronic payment and cloud computing. They've become one of the biggest companies in China and now, they have even more money to expand with possibly $38 billion available for deals next year.
Didi Dache
Chinese private car hire app Yidao Yongche has hinted at a tie-up with Uber Technologies Inc, the controversial $40 billion U.S. taxi-hailing firm which has repeatedly hit regulatory roadblocks in China, the world's largest smartphone market.
Ride-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc said late on Wednesday it has struck a deal with China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings Ltd, a Chinese luxury auto dealer, to provide discounts and financing for Uber drivers' cars.
Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, two of China's leading taxi-hailing apps, said on Saturday they would merge to create one of the world's largest smartphone-based transport services.
China's transport ministry has banned taxi hailing apps such as Uber Technologies Inc and local rivals Kuaidi Dache and Didi Dache from using cars and drivers without taxi licenses in a bid to regulate the rapidly growing sector.
Shenzhen, China-based taxi app Didi Dache is reportedly raising $100 million in a Series C funding round from investors Citic and Tencent for the integration of a payment platform into the app.
China's mobile-based taxi booking service Kuaidadi confirmed it recently received a USD100 million investment from Alibaba, and has acquired a Shanghai-based taxi booking app called Dahuangfeng.