Uber Plans Expansion to 100 Cities in China and Take on Biggest Chinese Rival

The very popular taxi-hailing service, Uber, plans to expand on 20 to 100 cities in China after their China unit has raised a whopping $1.2 billion.

Uber, which is now worth $50 billion, currently operates in only 20 Chinese cities. Last June, it sought to expand to only 50 markets in China, according to CNN Money. Now, the goal has doubled and they look to finish it before the year ends. The competition appears to be getting more intense.

According to The Independent, Uber faces a local rival and currently the number one taxi-hailing service in China, Didi Kuaidi. The company, which has Alibaba as its backer, was also reported that the rival raised $3 billion to expand its market share by subsidizing fare.

Uber, however, is confident they will win more market shares against homegrown outfits like Didi Kuaidi as they have the backing of China's number one internet search firm, Baidu. They have not yet named other investors for their Chinese expansion objective but as reported in the Business Insider, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick believes the firm can really help them get access to Chinese officials who can smooth regulatory paths.

The taxi-hailing service already made great progress in China. It is noticeable that its market share went from 1% to 35% in a period of nine months.  

The funding round is also not yet over and Uber could raise more money to finally say they can either split or win the market share that Didi Kuaidi is currently dominating. 

The $50bn company faced a lot of setbacks these past few months with its three employees arrested in Hong Kong and the $7 million fine it has to pay for not disclosing information about the company's operations.  But it cannot be shaken as Uber is backed by some of the biggest companies in the world such as Google, Microsoft, and Goldman Sachs.