2016 Year in Review: The Uber vs. Didi Saga in China

Both Uber and Didi (now sort of but not really merged) were in the news so much this year that we felt compelled to write a separate Year in Review blog post about them. Pretty much an essential part of our Beijing existence these days, these apps occasionally drive us crazy but we certainly wouldn't be without them either. 

March: Didi announced 10 million rides daily, five times that of Uber
Didi Chuxing, China’s ride-hailing giant, announced that it completes over 10 million rides daily. In a press release, Didi said this number rivals the peak daily passenger volume on China’s national train system during the 2016 Spring Festival. In its core markets like Beijing and Chengdu, more than a million rides are completed every day using Didi Kuaiche, its Uber-like private car service that connects individual drivers with passengers.

June: We gave you 10 Mandarin phrases to make your next Uber or Didi ride smoother
Life is better (and cheaper) now that Uber (and its Chinese cousin Didi) have overtaken metered taxis as the preferred mode of transport in Beijing, but even these apps can't help us fully overcome the language barrier for those of us that speak no Mandarin. In the spirit of mutual understanding and to give you monolinguals an edge on making your next ride smoother, we have compiled 10 useful Mandarin phrases for your next Uber pickup.

June: We proposed a rational Uber/Didi driver star rating system
Perhaps the greatest feature of Uber (in addition to cheap rides) is the ability to give drivers a star rating. The system is not just window dressing to give customers a chance to blow off steam – drivers genuinely care about their rating and Uber itself, flush with a billion dollars or so of venture capital, employs a crack team of people on the customer service end to reply to quite literally every complaint a customer puts forth.

July: Ride-hailing apps finally became legal on November 1
New rules came into effect on November 1 that made Uber and Didi finally legal, although they came with a few stipulations. On the positive side, the rules require that drivers have a minimum of three years of experience behind the wheel. But on the not-so-positive side, the new rules also prohibit ride-sharing apps from offering services at below cost. Which means the days of super-cheap fares are probably over. Also, user information and data collected by the apps must be stored within China's borders for at least two years.

August: Uber and Didi merged in a USD 35 million deal
In August, Bloomberg reported that Uber was to merge its China operations with local Giant Didi Chuxing in a deal worth USD 35 million. The merge seemed to come as part of a bid to make both companies profitable. As Uber CEO Travis Kalanick wrote in a blog post: “Uber and Didi Chuxing are investing billions of dollars in China and both companies have yet to turn a profit there. Getting to profitability is the only way to build a sustainable business that can best serve Chinese riders, drivers and cities over the long term.”

September: We shared five ways to stay safe on Uber and Didi
While whizzing around in Uber and Didi Dache cars may be extremely convenient and cheap, and it's easy to assume that Beijing is safe, it's important to never sacrifice your safety for convenience. Without being too pessimistic, you just never know who your driver is. In Shenzhen, for example, 2,231 drivers in the city's online cab hailing service were demonstrated to have criminal records. Amongst these, 40 are national outlaws, 758 are former drug users, and 1,400 have a criminal history. Sixth Tone reported on literal ghost drivers, with profile pictures that will scare you into canceling your trip, after which you'll owe the driver a few rambos. 

October: New regulations placed strict restrictions on drivers
New regulations released in October placed strict restrictions on both cars and drivers. Only holders of a Beijing hukou are allowed to drive for private ride-share companies in the capital. The new policies also enforce a minimum size requirement for vehicles used by the car-hailing apps. Beijing’s Transport Commission, who drafted the new rules, said that the regulations will help spare Beijing from traffic congestion and air pollution. 

November: Uber automatically blocked its old app on November 26, meaning big changes for users
On November 3, 2016, Uber went through one of the biggest changes in its short history when it formally decoupled its service in China from the rest of its worldwide operations. This has created much speculation as to motives, with a number of news outlets titling their articles to suggest that this was a deliberate attempt to 'lock out' foreigners from using the service in China. Our guest blog by Ryan King focused on what the changes meant in terms of registration, language, payment, and using the app.

Present
The future of Uber in China remains unclear. Currently, foreigners are unable to use the app as you need a shēnfènzhèng (Chinese resident ID card) to do so. Foreigners can still use Didi but not the carpool feature, which also requires a Chinese ID.

More stories by this author here.

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