Tokyo (People's Daily) - Didi Chuxing announced on Thursday the official launch of DiDi Mobility Japan Corp (DiDi Japan), a joint-venture with SoftBank, to offer on-demand taxi-hailing services and smart transportation solutions for citizens and tourists in the world's third-largest economy.

“DiDi believes AI-based innovation may contribute to new growth of the taxi industry and the public transportation sectors. We look forward to developing extensive collaboration with all industry players to assist in smart city initiatives in Japan and Asia,” said Jean Liu, president of Didi.

"Through this joint venture, I am delighted to deliver DiDi's most advanced transportation platform service with AI technology to the Japanese market. Combining DiDi's outstanding innovation with SoftBank's extensive business base including advanced network infrastructure, I believe the joint venture can provide new value to both the consumers and taxi companies in Japan," said Ken Miyauchi, president and CEO of SoftBank Corp.

Japan is the world's third-largest taxi market. With advanced mobile internet infrastructure and a global reputation for high-quality taxi service, Japan holds great potential as a market for online taxi-hailing. There is earnest demand for more convenient urban and regional transportation services, especially in light of the growing population of senior citizens.

Stephen Zhu, vice president of Didi and CEO of DiDi Japan, says the new platform aims to help taxi companies improve their efficiency and utilization, enhance user satisfaction and build more broad-based demand for taxi services.

Cities in Japan are bracing for a new phase of economic expansion and tourism growth. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, in-bound travelers grew by 28% annually, and the number of Greater China visitors by 34% per year between 2012 and 2017. DiDi Japan aims to support the Japanese taxi industry capture these new opportunities in anticipation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

DiDi aims to roll out its ride-matching app for riders, drivers and taxi operators in Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Tokyo and other major cities starting from autumn this year. 

DiDi is the world's leading mobile transportation platform, serving over 550 million users across over 10 services from taxi-hailing, private car-hailing, to bike-sharing and food delivery. It is also the world's largest on-demand taxi-dispatcher, connecting over 200 million taxi drivers.

(Top photo: Vice President of Didi Chuxing Stephen Zhu, SoftBank Corp's CEO Ken Miyauchi, President of Didi Chuxing Jean Liu and SoftBank Corp' executive Keigo Sugano shake hands after a news conference about their Japanese taxi-hailing joint venture in Tokyo, Japan, July 19, 2018. / VCG)