China's sovereign wealth fund took part in taxi app Didi Kuaidi's US$2 billion funding round: source
China's sovereign wealth fund has invested an unspecified amount in Didi Kuaidi, China's dominant ride-hailing app which is competing against US firm Uber, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
The person said China Investment Corp (CIC) was one of several investors that injected more than US$2 billion in recent months into the startup, which is now valued at US$15 billion.
The source did not give details about the size of CIC's investment, and they declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
CIC officials were not immediately available to comment on the matter.
Established in 2007 to investment China's foreign exchange reserves, CIC now has roughly US$600 billion under management, including holdings in overseas real estate, natural resources and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding.
Didi Kuaidi, which controls 80 per cent of China's private car hailing market, is spending heavily to compete against Uber, which is currently raising funds for a local subsidiary called UberChina.
Didi Kuaidi's other backers include Alibaba, Tencent Holding, Coatue Management and Singaporean state investment firm Temasek Holdings. The company recently said it handles more than 3 million rides a day.
