Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing denies reports of Beijing government-led investment

Didi said there was no truth to a Beijing government-led proposal that would give state-run companies control of the firm

Last month, Didi denied a report about a management reshuffle at the company in the wake of the government’s cybersecurity review

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Didi Chuxing, the world’s largest ride-hailing services provider, was put under China’s first-ever cybersecurity review in July after raising US$4.4 billion from its public listing in New York in June. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:03pm, 4 Sep 2021Updated: 8:10pm, 4 Sep 2021

Didi Chuxing, the world’s largest ride-hailing company, has denied various media reports that the Beijing municipal government is leading a proposal to invest in the company that will put it under state control.

“Foreign media’s claim about Beijing’s municipal government coordinating relevant companies to invest in Didi is untrue,” the company said in a statement published on Weibo on Saturday afternoon.

Shouqi Group – part of the influential Beijing Tourism Group – and other firms based in the nation’s capital would acquire a stake in Didi in the form of a “golden share”, with a board seat and veto power, under a preliminary proposal reported by Bloomberg on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The report comes months after the Chinese government took a minority stake and a board seat in TikTok owner ByteDance’s main domestic subsidiary, which may signal closer oversight by Beijing over the country’s most valuable technology unicorn.

A pedestrian passes Didi Chuxing’s headquarters at night in Beijing on July 5, 2021. Photo: Bloomberg

There have been plenty of speculation about Didi’s future following the government’s cybersecurity review of the company, an initiative led by a task force of seven Chinese agencies including the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Security.

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