Didi is planning to expand this year, the company said Thursday, as the regulatory crackdown on the Chinese ride-hailing giant eases.
The Beijing-headquartered company said in an online statement that it plans to work with partners in 2023 to launch more diversified products and services. It also said that it plans to cover more cities with its services.
Didi said it sees a “rapid recovery of travel and consumption” across China and in the past few months, the number of ride-hailing orders has been growing. China scrapped its strict “zero-Covid” policy in December which aimed to stop the spread of the coronavirus through measures including mass testing and lockdowns.
Since then, travel in and out of China as well as within the country has become much easier.
Didi’s expansion announcement comes following an intense crackdown on the company which began in mid-2021. Didi went public in the U.S. in June 2021 but days after its listing, Chinese regulators opened a cybersecurity review into the company.
In July, the Cyberspace Administration of China accused Didi of illegally collecting users’ data and ordered its app to be removed from local app stores. It was not allowed to sign up new users.
But in January, Didi’s apps returned to app stores in China.
Didi’s business expansion plans underscore the more predictable regulatory environment companies are now expecting after a crackdown on the technology sector that began in late 2020 and lasted for around two years.