Uber’s China unit now valued at $7b – less than half of Didi Kuaidi (UPDATE: raised $2b)

Update Jan 14
Today, Uber’s China branch is reporting that the company raised US$2 billion in funding from Chinese investors during its series B round. Reuters reports that investors include China Minsheng Banking Corp, Vanke (a real estate firm), and Hainan Airlines Group, among others.

Original article below

Uber in China closed its series B financing round yesterday, and has announced its latest valuation at US$7 billion. The company is certainly still capable of raking in cash – but it may be too late for the Chinese market.

As of September, it was estimated that Didi Kuaidi, Uber’s principle competitor in mainland China, was valued at some US$16.5 billion. And after yesterday’s confidence-building report that Didi Kuaidi is now “the world’s largest mobile-based transportation platform,” it looks like the company isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

See also: Uber who? Didi Kuaidi completed 1.43b rides in 2015

Uber’s financing announcement also included a shout-out to Hainan Airlines Group, which joined China Taiping Insurance, Guangzhou Automobile Co. Group, China Life, CITIC Insurance, and others in the company’s financing round.

The Hainan Airlines Group partnership is no small deal. The organization operates China’s largest private airline, and is a Fortune Global 500 Group entity. In its statement, Uber says that it plans to utilize Hainan Airlines Group’s “global network of interests covering aviation, financing, logistics, and tourism.”

What if a US$7 billion valuation is too little, too late?

But Uber is facing a question in China that would be unthinkable in most other sectors or countries – what if a US$7 billion valuation is too little, too late?

If September’s estimates were correct, then Didi Kuaidi’s valuation is so mind-bendingly massive as to make seven billion dollars look like small change. Couple that with the fact that Didi Kuaidi has formed partnerships with nearly every Uber competitor in Asia – and America – and the odds aren’t looking good.

Uber is certainly going to survive in China. But as its main competitor racks up billions of rides, makes deals with the Chinese government, and invests in Uber competitors abroad, it’s becoming very clear that China is Didi’s turf.