A new ride-hailing app backed by blockchain technology will soon be launched by China’s Uber equivalent, Didi Chuxing. This announcement was made recently by the company’s founder, Weixing Chen.
An important partnership
Several weeks ago, Didi Chuxing, a leading ride-hailing company, formed a partnership with Yang Jun, co‑founder of Meituan Dianping. Meituan Dianping is a major Chinese services platform focused on local on-demand offerings. Through this strategic alliance, both companies plan to develop a new app that delivers expanded services to users, including on-demand delivery.
Didi Chuxing continues to expand and already claims control of roughly 90% of China’s ride-hailing market. Valued at over $60 billion, the company is pursuing further growth and international expansion. To support that ambition, it is investing in innovation—most notably blockchain technology.
The value of blockchain technology
Yang Jun believes blockchain technology offers many advantages if it delivers genuine added value to users. Familiar with the technology, he intends to apply it to create new economic models and provide innovative, practical services that address specific user needs.
To begin, Meituan Dianping and Didi Chuxing will focus on on-demand transportation booking. This will serve as the initial user-facing test to evaluate the app’s usefulness and performance. Both companies are ambitious and plan to leverage blockchain strategically to differentiate their offering.
The project is officially underway. Now, it remains to be seen how customers will adopt and use this inventive application. Stay tuned.