Ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing announced on Monday that it has secured around USD 600 million from China’s largest state-owned commercial insurance conglomerate, China Life. This strategic investment in Didi will include an equity investment of USD 300 million and a long-term debt investment of RMB two billion (USD 305 million).
“China Life is not only a leader in China’s insurance industry, but also a national pioneer for innovation in the financial services sector,” said Didi’s president Jean Liu. “Leveraging China Life’s leadership in capital, branding, financial product portfolio and services networks, Didi will develop a more flexible, reliable, and enriched value-added mobility experience for our users.”
The two parties will jointly aim to build a safer and more diversified mobile financial ecosystem. They will work on business models for areas including insurance, financial services, market development, and corporate mobility services.
Currently, Didi’s investors include Tencent, Alibaba, Apple, China Merchants Bank, and China Life, among others.
In response to Uber’s announced financing of USD 3.5 billion from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Liu said earlier this month at the 2016 Code Conference that Didi was raising a bigger amount for its current round, which includes the USD one billion from Apple and the promised USD 200 million from Alibaba.
Completing 14 million rides daily with 300 million users in China, Didi now occupies over 87% of the market for private car-hailing in China, according to Reuters. In addition to services like taxi hailing, private car hailing, riding hitching, chauffeuring, bus services, and test driving, the company has recently introduced a real-time bus info inquiry service that is expected to change China’s public transportation landscape.
(Top photo from Baidu Images)