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Didi Chuxing
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Meituan quietly revives its stand-alone ride-hailing app as Didi Chuxing faces regulatory storm

  • First launched in 2017, Meituan removed its ride-hailing app from China’s app stores in 2019
  • Some regulators now see the Didi listing as a deliberate act of deceit

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Meituan operates China’s leading online marketplace for on-demand services. Photo: Bloomberg
Minghe Hu
Meituan, China’s on-demand delivery giant, has relaunched its ride-hailing app as Didi Chuxing, the country’s dominant player, faces a cybersecurity investigation that could erode its 90 per cent market share.
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First launched in 2017, but removed by the company from China’s app stores in 2019, the app is now available again on Apple’s iOS App Store and Xiaomi’s Android app store. The app’s update history on the iOS App Store shows that it was added on July 9, one week after Didi was barred from registering new users over data security concerns.
As part of its efforts to take advantage of the situation, Meituan – a powerful lifestyle services player in its own right with 570 million users by the end of March – is quietly positioning itself in opposition to Didi.

Upon opening for the first time, Meituan’s ride-hailing app takes a subtle jab at Didi with its privacy policy that states the platform does not transfer user data to unauthorised third parties or use it for unauthorised purposes. The Cyberspace Administration of China cited improper collection and usage of information when it ordered Didi off app stores.

In addition, Meituan’s app is turning into an “everyone but Didi” platform that includes its own fleet of drivers as well as those from other platforms like Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur as well as Caocao Chuxing.

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Beijing’s crackdown on Didi has offered competitors – long jostling for the remaining 10 per cent of the ride-hailing market – an opportunity to catch up as Didi’s main points of entry, app stores and mini apps on WeChat and Alipay, are now closed off.

Didi-Chuxing's dominance of China's ride-hailing industry.
Didi-Chuxing's dominance of China's ride-hailing industry.
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