Didi Chuxing, Chinese ride-hailing company, starts operating in Mexico

Beijing. January 12. Silkroadnews - Didi Chuxing, Chinese ride-hailing company, starts operating in Mexico, Fortune magazine reports.
“Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing has advertised online for a range of jobs in Mexico as it prepares to break into the country, one of rival Uber‘s regional strongholds. Didi Chuxing plans this year to launch a smartphone app in Mexico and to recruit drivers to the platform. The expansion underscores Didi’s growing interest in Mexico and, more broadly, Latin America, a market where Uber Technologies doubled down after Didi drove it out of China,” the report said.
Over the past two weeks Didi has advertised on the LinkedIn social network announcements of vacancies for specialists in public relations, marketing, work with personnel, etc. in Mexico.
Uber, in turn, stressed it does not intend to leave Mexico, where it operates in 43 cities.
Didi never made a secret of its global ambitions, but entering the Mexican market was a turning point. The company absorbed many of Uber’s competitors around the world. At the beginning of last week it acquired control over the Brazil’s ride service “99”.
Didi will probably face administrative obstacles in Mexico, like those that Uber had. Legislators in the state of Quintana Roo, where the most visited tourist center of Cancun is located, proposed to amend legislation prohibiting cash fare for taxi trips, which, according to Uber, is an important tool for reaching users in emerging markets.
Last month, Uber announced that it would stop rendering services in Cancun, as a number of issues is still not settled with the authorities, yet the company hopes to resume its operation at the beginning of the year.
Didi also noted that Mexico could take advantage of new technologies, including the use of self-driving vehicles.