New | Didi tests English interface, foreign credit cards as it prepares to expand overseas
After dominating China’s ride-hailing industry with 20 million rides every day, Didi is taking steps to go abroad
Didi Chuxing is testing an English version of its smartphone application, with the capability to accept payment by international credit cards, in what appears to be a sign that the Chinese ride-hailing service is expanding overseas after dominating the country’s industry.
Over the weekend, a number of users including Shanghai expatriate Mathieu Bouchara found that the app was displayed in English instead of the default Chinese language, which had previously left out legions of non-Chinese reading users.
“The English language setting will help a lot of expats who don’t speak or read Chinese,” Bouchara said. “This is a nice option.”
The move could prove to be a welcomed option for expats and tourists in the city, after Uber’s international app in November stopped working in China following Didi’s acquisition of Uber China’s operations last August.
Didi in October launched an updated Chinese-language Uber app exclusively for China. The new app sported a Chinese-language interface, and foreign credit cards were no longer supported as a payment method, making it difficult for expats and tourists to use Uber China’s ride-hailing service.
