Ctrip the latest to challenge Didi Chuxing in China’s ride-hailing market

Ctrip.com International, China’s largest online travel service, has emerged as the latest entrant in the country’s ride-hailing market, a move that could intensify competition in a business now dominated by Chinese car-on-demand giant Didi Chuxing.

New York-listed Ctrip, which is backed by global online travel service leader Booking Holdings, said on Tuesday it has been granted a licence to offer web-enabled car-on-demand services in China, a step that pits it directly against Didi in the rapidly growing Chinese market where about 225 million people used smartphone apps to hail rides last year.

Shanghai-based Ctrip, which offers mobile web applications for services such as hotel reservations, flight ticketing and package tours, has been building up its chauffeur and car rental services to provide enhanced transport options for its customers.

Ctrip’s announcement follows the recent move by Chinese tech major Meituan Dianping in launching its ride hailing service, the first strong competitor to emerge since Didi thought it had sewn up the market after pushing Uber out of China.

Beijing-based Didi, which counts tech giants Apple, Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings among its biggest shareholders, became the dominant player in China’s ride-hailing market after pushing Uber out of the country in 2016. Didi and Uber engaged in a destructive price war for dominance in China, with billions of yuan spent to buy loyalty from riders and drivers, effectively giving consumers free rides to win market share.

Ctrip didn’t reveal details on when and where it would officially launch the ride-hailing service. In a statement released on Tuesday, the chief executive of Ctrip’s chauffeur car service unit Li Qiao said there was huge untapped potential in China’s ride-hailing market.