Chinese ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing announced the launch of Didi Mobility Japan Corp, a joint venture (JV) with Japan's SoftBank, to offer on-demand taxi-hailing services and smart transportation solutions for citizens and tourists in the world's third-largest economy.

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Didi looks forward to developing extensive collaboration with all industry players to assist in smart city initiatives in Japan and other Asian countries, said the company's president Jean Liu, according to a statement Didi sent to the Global Times.

Cities in Japan are bracing for a new phase of economic expansion and tourism growth. Didi Japan aims to support the Japanese taxi industry to capture new opportunities in anticipation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.