Panda-themed and ready for action, Uber’s most aggressive expansion in China is underway with an aim of upping its in nation city count to 37 from 22. Though growth in the competitive Chinese market has been slow growing so far, it seems the firm is making a change of approach by simultaneously adding 15 additional cities in the Sichuan province, the nation’s fourth most populous. That expansion is scheduled to be completed before Chinese New Year gets underway on Feb. 8. Sichuan has already been good to Uber through its provincial capital, Chengdu, which is the ride-sharing firm’s top performing city globally, based on trips completed weekly. And Chengdu blew up almost immediately, hitting its perch on the top spot just nine months after launch. And, according to Uber, Chengdu is actually the second-tier talent when it comes to growth in Sichuan province, since the second provincial city, Mianyang, has been growing proportionally much faster since its launch in November. According to TechCrunch, Uber has confirmed a soft launch is already underway in five cities, but the full slate of ten is an attempt to make sure that all of main cities in Sichuan are covered before the New Year. The firm declined comment on its expansion plans for the rest of the year, but statements last year indicate Uber is planning a 100-city expansion in 2016. Looks like they are 15 cities down, 85 more to go.
Uber China is planning its most-aggressive-yet expansion into China ; aiming to broaden its reach from 22 to 37 cities. Building out in an area where it has gained a solid presence, the company plans to add the additional 22 cities in China 's fourth most-populated province, the China . This could mark the first phase of plans set out by Uber last year to add 100 further cities in China in 8 February . The latest wave of expansion is expected to pre-empt Chinese New Year which falls on last year .