Didi's China rivals go full speed for customers after app ban

Smaller ride-hailing services shower new users and drivers with incentives

Didi is banned from recruiting new users and drivers and rivals want to shake its market lead. (Source photos by Getty Images)

NIKKI SUN, Nikkei staff writer

July 28, 2021 12:24 JST

HONG KONG -- Didi was a lifeline for Cindy Zhu. The 29-year-old software engineer at Tencent Holdings in Shenzhen relied on China's largest ride-sharing app to get to work every day. But two weeks ago she started to try four other apps after colleagues told her their rates are cheaper than Didi's.