Uber Boosts Bet on China

HONG KONG—Ride-hailing app Uber Technologies Inc. is planning to invest over $1 billion in China this year, boosting its bet on a market that has been difficult to crack for most U.S. technology companies.

In a letter to investors, Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick said China is a priority for Uber's global team and the company believes it has captured close to half of the non-taxi ride-hailing market in the country.

He also took a swipe at China's dominant taxi-hailing company, Didi Kuaidi Joint Co. "Our competitor has cloned our core product line and is attempting to transition from its legacy taxi business to a similar P2P model," Mr. Kalanick wrote. Didi Kuaidi couldn't be reached immediately for comment.

P2P stands for peer-to-peer, a business model that allows private drivers to offer rides to customers rather than relying on licensed taxi drivers.

UberChina, the company's China unit, is set to launch a formal fundraising process on June 22, Mr. Kalanick said in the letter. He noted that Uber in China has reached commercial partnerships and received strategic investments of over $500 million from Chinese technology, financial services, and insurance companies.

In December, Uber and Chinese search engine Baidu Inc. announced a strategic tie-up that included an investment by Baidu into Uber.

The investor letter was first reported by the Financial Times.

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