HONG KONG — With more internet users than any other country and a fast-rising middle class, China is one of the most sought-after markets in the world.
香港——中国拥有比其他任何国家都多的互联网用户,还有一个快速壮大的中产阶级,由此成为全球最炙手可热的市场之一。
Recent fund-raising rounds in the ride-sharing market show it is also one of the most expensive.
拼车应用市场最近出现的融资动作则显示出,这也是最昂贵的市场之一。
The Chinese car-hailing app Didi Chuxing said on Thursday that it had brought in $7.3 billion in its latest round of fund-raising, which included Apple, Alibaba, and SoftBank as investors. The new funds give the company a total of $10.5 billion in disposable funds, and put its valuation at $28 billion, according to a person familiar with the fund-raising.
中国打车软件滴滴出行周四表示,它在最近一轮融资中筹得73亿美元资金,投资方包括苹果(Apple)、阿里巴巴、软银(SoftBank)等。据知情人士透露,本轮融资令这家企业手握总计105亿美元的可支配资金,并使其估值达到280亿美元。
That Didi’s valuation is now almost half that of the $62.5 billion valuation of its main rival in China, Uber, shows how much potential investors see in China. Yet the size of the cash infusions also underscores the market’s difficulties.
滴滴出行目前的估值几乎达到它在中国的主要竞争对手优步(Uber)的一半,后者的估值是625亿美元。这显示出投资者有多么看好中国市场。然而,这么大规模的注资也突显出开发这个市场的难度。
In part because of China’s widespread blocking of foreign websites, the competition between Uber and Didi marks the first time in recent history a major foreign tech company has vied so intensely with a local Chinese business.
优步和滴滴出行之间的竞争,是近期历史上第一次有一家外国大技术公司与中国本土企业展开如此激烈的竞争。这在一定程度上是因为中国普遍封锁外国网站。
In other markets the contest over ride-sharing has focused on regulation and technology, but in China it has been much more about cash, with the two companies spending billions. The most recent round has also pulled in Apple, pitting America’s biggest tech company against America’s best-known start-up, Uber, in a tricky Chinese market. Both see China as critical to growth.
在其他一些市场,拼车服务的竞争集中在监管和技术方面,但在中国,这种竞争与资金的关联度要大得多。两家公司都砸下了数以亿计的资金。最近这轮融资还将苹果公司拉了进来,令美国规模最大的科技公司与美国最知名的创业公司在复杂的中国市场产生了竞争关系。两家企业都认为中国市场对自身的增长至关重要。
The fund-raising comes as executives from Didi and Uber have signaled that they are focusing on profitability in China.
这轮融资出现的时刻恰逢滴滴出行和优步的高管均表示他们会注重增加在中国市场的盈利能力。
Although Didi has attracted investment from some of the largest technology companies in the world, Uber has vowed to plow profits from other markets into China, and this month announced $3.5 billion in new money from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
尽管滴滴出行吸引到一些全球最大的技术企业的投资,优步却承诺它会将公司在其他市场获得的利润投入中国市场。本月,优步宣布从沙特阿拉伯主权财富基金获得了35亿美元的新投资。
Uber gained first-mover advantage by introducing its business model, which relies on enlisting drivers to shuttle around passengers, complementing it with big subsidies. Didi quickly responded with its own service, offering similarly big inducements.
通过引入自己的商业模式,优步获得了先发优势。这种模式是招募司机运送乘客,辅之以大额补贴。滴滴出行很快以自己的服务做出回应,也提供类似的大额奖励。
Since then both companies have been locked in a spending war. Though it has primarily taken the form of subsidies, both companies have also tried to develop technology specific to China, and have actively wooed both local and national government officials.
自那之后,两家企业陷入了烧钱大战。尽管主要是以补贴的形式出现,但双方都试图开发出专门针对中国市场的技术,同时积极讨好地方和中央政府官员。
Didi has focused on technology that better predicts car arrival times, given China’s unruly traffic, while Uber has developed a commute function that links drivers with riders based on where they live and work.
考虑到中国不可控的交通状况,滴滴出行侧重于更好地预测车辆到达时间,优步则开发出一种通勤功能,基于乘客的居住地和工作地将他们与司机联系起来。
Although both companies have said they plan to dial back spending, the new war chests accumulated by each may make that hard. Didi has said it is profitable in half of the 400 cities it operates in, while Uber has said it is spending a quarter what it was spending per ride in China last year and providing four times as many rides.
尽管两家公司都表示他们计划减少支出,但双方新近积累的这些备战基金可能会让他们难以收手。滴滴出行表示,它在自己开展业务的400多座城市中的一半区域实现了盈利。优步则宣称,目前在中国的每次出行上的支出平均只有去年的四分之一,提供搭乘服务的次数则是去年的四倍。
Uber continues to press Didi in smaller cities. Uber said in a recent news release it is now in 60 Chinese cities, and in Zhengzhou, a provincial capital in central China, Uber said it hit a million trips less than a month after it entered in late May.
优步持续在规模较小的城市向滴滴出行施压。它在最近发布的新闻稿中表示,公司现在的业务覆盖了中国60座城市。优步披露,在5月底进入华中地区的省会城市郑州之后不到一个月的时间里,公司就提供了100万次搭乘服务。
In its statement Didi said it had procured $4.5 billion in equity investment from Apple, China Life, Ant Financial and other existing shareholders like SoftBank, Tencent and Alibaba. China Merchants Bank offered a syndicated loan of up to $2.5 billion as a part of the fund-raising, and China Life offered $300 million as a long-term debt investment.
滴滴出行在声明中称,它从苹果、中国人寿、蚂蚁金服,以及软银、腾讯和阿里巴巴等其他现有股东那里获得了45亿美元的股权投资。作为这轮融资的一部分,中国招商银行给它安排了25亿美元的银团贷款,中国人寿则提供了3亿美元的长期债权投资。