San - Francisco 's Lyft is to partner China 's largest ride - hailing service , Didi Kuaidi , which puts the company in direct competition to Uber . Lyft and Didi will both provide services that let drivers connect with passengers via a dedicated smartphone app , which will allow passengers to use their usual app whilst travelling abroad , just like they would at home ; Didi is also investing $ 100 m in China . China 's expanding middle class and huge population have created a lucrative market for Uber to capitalise on , and this means the company will spend $ 1bn on its Chinese investment . Didi invested $100m in Lyft as part of a $530m financing round earlier this year that included Japan's Rakuten, China's Alibaba and Tencent and investor Carl Icahn. " However , Uber has faced a number of roadblocks from Chinese regulators , whereas , Didi , being a local company , has a good relationship with government regulators , which may give it a competitive advantage .
San - Francisco 's Lyft is to partner China 's largest ride - hailing service , Didi Kuaidi , which puts the company in direct competition to Uber . Lyft and Didi will both provide services that let drivers connect with passengers via a dedicated smartphone app , which will allow passengers to use their usual app whilst travelling abroad , just like they would at home ; Didi is also investing $ 100 m in China . China 's expanding middle class and huge population have created a lucrative market for Uber to capitalise on , and this means the company will spend $ 1bn on its Chinese investment . However , Uber has faced a number of roadblocks from Chinese regulators , whereas , Didi , being a local company , has a good relationship with government regulators , which may give it a competitive advantage .