Following US$1 bln investment in China, Uber sees Asia operations eclipsing those in US

Uber's ride-hailing mobile app business in Asia is expected to soon surpass the company’s operations in the United States, helped by its aggressive expansion in China and friendly transport regulations elsewhere in the continent.

“In the next couple of months, [Asia] will be bigger [for us] than the US,” Sam Gellman, general manager at Uber Hong Kong, said on Thursday.

"The business in this part of the world has grown significantly faster than our businesses in Europe and the US,” he said during a panel at the second South China Morning Post Game Changers forum in Hong Kong.

Gellman did not provide details about the size of growth in Asia, but said Uber’s efforts in the Chinese mainland reflected the bullish prospects there and throughout the region.

In his widely reported e-mail last week, Uber founder and chief executive Travis Kalanick said the San Francisco-based company will invest more than US$1 billion in China this year.

“Simply stated, China is the #1 priority for Uber’s global team,” he wrote.