Didi Taxi app eyes IPO to cement position

DIDI Taxi, one of China's leading taxi hailing applications, is eying an initial public offering to cement its market position.

The Beijing-based company is said to be planning an IPO in three to five years, Bloomberg News said yesterday, citing its co-founder Zhang Bo. A Didi Taxi official told Shanghai Daily that the process "could take years" to complete.

Tencent-backed Didi Taxi competes with Hangzhou-based Kuaidi Taxi which partners third-party payment service Alipay. Tencent earlier this year said it teamed up with CITIC Private Equity Funds Management Co to invest $100 million in Didi Taxi.