Uber 下大决心赢得中国消费者

AS IT IS 2015-07-06 Uber Making a Big Push to Win Over Chinese Consumers Uber 下大决心赢得中国消费者

The car-sharing service Uber reported in June it is receiving one million requests for rides every day in China. The American-based company is taking steps to win over Chinese consumers and compete with local businesses.

Uber entered the Chinese market just two years ago. But its quick expansion¹ there is changing taxi service across the country. The company reaches large numbers of Chinese with its smartphone application.

And as it has done in other markets, Uber is making business difficult for traditional taxis and private car services. This is making longtime taxi drivers very unhappy.

Jin Zhu drives a taxi in Beijing. He said Uber is making it hard for him to find customers and earn a living. He said it is not that he and other taxi drivers can't find any riders, but that there are not as many as before.

Chinese rival²

Uber’s biggest rival in China, Didi Kuaidi, currently³ has more than 80 percent of the market. It has help from two major Chinese businesses, the Internet companies Alibaba and Tencent. Unlike Uber, Didi Kuaidi has services that use local taxis, instead of only private cars.

Uber is working to win market share by offering rides that cost 35 percent less than taxis. The company is also offering bonuses to drivers.

The company said it has created more than 60,000 jobs in China. Last month, Uber announced it plans to spend $1 billion to expand in the country.

Ben Cavendar is with China Market Research. He says Uber has been aggressive about investing⁴. Last December, the Chinese Internet company Baidu invested⁵ in Uber.

“It seems like, so far, with everything that they have done, they have been pretty aggressive about investing. And they have a tie-up now with Baidu, which has gotten them a lot of extra funding.”

Mr. Cavendar says one issue for Uber in China is that there are already local companies offering similar services.

“The challenge in China, versus⁶ in a lot of other markets in Europe or Asia, is that there are already a lot of competitors on the ground here.”

Uber’s chief executive⁷ officer, Travis Kalanick, has been making trips to China to lead its expansion across the country. In public speeches, he has expressed hope about the company’s chances. However, many young Western technology companies have faced difficulty in trying to win over Chinese consumers.

And Uber’s competitors are also expressing hope about the future. Last week, Uber rival Didi Kuaidi said it expects to raise at least $1.5 billion in new financing⁸, making it one of China’s most valuable Internet start-up companies.

Like in other countries, there have been protests⁹ against Uber in China. Some drivers oppose its low prices that make it harder for traditional taxis to compete. Chinese officials have also raided¹⁰ some offices. They accuse Uber of operating without the right government permits.

But so far, drivers’ protests are not stopping the growth of these businesses within China. Mr. Kalanick of Uber says the company plans to expand to 50 more Chinese cities within the next year.

Words in This Story

rival - n. a person or thing that tries to defeat or be more successful than another

bonus - n. an extra amount of money that is given to an employee

start-up - n. a new business

1 expansion   

n.扩张，扩充；扩大；扩充物；扩展部

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The plan will give an impulse to industrial expansion.这个计划将促进工业的扩展。

2 rival   

n.竞争对手，敌手；vt.与…相匹敌，比得上

参考例句：

• None of us can rival him in strength.我们谁也没他劲大。
• She defeat all her rival for the job with nonchalant ease.她从容不迫地击败求职的所有竞争者。

3 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

4 investing   

v.投资，花费( invest的现在分词 )；授予；（把资金）投入；投入（时间、精力等）

参考例句：

• He was timid about investing money. 他不敢投资。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Europe also caught the excitement of investing in American railroads. 欧洲人对投资美国铁路也极感兴趣。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

5 invested   

v.投资，花费( invest的过去式和过去分词 )；授予；（把资金）投入；投入（时间、精力等）

参考例句：

• The money will be invested in managed funds. 这笔钱将投资于管理基金。
• He invested his lawyer with complete power to act for him. 他让律师全权代办。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

7 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

8 financing   

n.筹措资金

参考例句：

• The main source of our outside financing is bank loan. 我们向外筹措资金的主要渠道是银行贷款。
• They live in a symbiosis with governments that they are financing. 他们与他们服务的政府互利共存。

9 protests   

n.[体]抗议；抗议，反对( protest的名词复数 )v.声明( protest的第三人称单数 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• The protests have forced the government to back-pedal on the new tax. 抗议活动已迫使政府撤销新的税目。
• Plans to build a new mall were deep-sixed after protests from local residents. 修建新室内购物中心的计划由于当地居民反对而搁浅。

10 raided   

对…进行突然袭击（raid的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The enemy raided the docks. 敌人突然袭击了码头。
• Enemy troops raided our border areas. 敌军对我边境地区进行袭击。