Uber, an international transportation network company, announced that it aims to expand into 18 new cities in China by the end of February 2016.
They intend to expand across Southern China which is now widely spread, as Uber had started in 15 cities in Sichuan province before the start of Chinese New Year in early February. Upon combining the two separate expansions, the company should operate in around 55 cities by the end of next month.
Hubei, Guangdong, and Hunan provinces are its target, especially in the Southern Chinese regions. Although Uber is already present in these provinces, it has not reached the second-tier and third-tier cities. The expansion will include areas like Xiangtan, Zhuzhou, and Dongguan.
Guangdong province is very important for the company's network. Uber says it noticed a 3,000 percent growth in the number of riders there in 2015. The provincial capital of Guangzhou was considered the busiest city globally for most of the second half of 2015.
Meanwhile, Didi Kuadi, a Chinese taxi hailing firm, is the top competitor of Uber here in China. Through its massive network, Didi Kuaidi operates like Uber in around 200 cities, while the latter is still struggling to operate in double-digits cities. Hopefully it should get there with its targeted expansion.
By the end of 2016, Uber aims to be in around 100 cities all throughout China. It may not be enough to rival Didi Kuaidi, but certainly it is going to be too big to get ignored.
Every new expansion they make may only be just a shadow of the next ones to come.
Uber China's regional general manager Luo Gang says they are expecting to quickly build a huge scale in these new regions. These cities will be based to further grow their network, especially around the southern provinces. So it's going to be great news once implemented.
Watch the video below to know the top competitors of Uber worldwide:
(Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of Yibada.)