Is a State-Backed Ride-Hailing Service Set to Displace DiDi in China? Think Again.

The 'Little Red App' may aggregate ride-hailing, but the government denies setting up its own platform

Published

January 30, 2023

Article Banner Picture

Published

January 30, 2023


China is launching a state-backed platform for ride-hailing, trucking, and other transport services—or so it seemed based on media reports this month. The platform, Qiangguo Jiaotong 强国交通, will reportedly be a part of Xuexi Qiangguo 学习强国, the CCP Propaganda Department’s smartphone app—dubbed the “Little Red App” by international media. The news, which emerged just before DiDi’s release from the app store jail, led to concerns that China’s Great Tech Rectification was not yet over, especially as Qiangguo Jiaotong was expected to take over 90 percent of the total market share—roughly DiDi’s piece of the pie before regulators intervened in 2021. 

Looking deeper, however, there is little justification for speculation that this amounts to a government-backed alternative to displace DiDi. The Ministry of Transport, whose logo appears on a screenshot of the platform, has denied any involvement; Beijing Daily, the municipal Party Committee–affiliated newspaper that first broke the news, has subsequently removed its coverage. In a Jan. 19 statement, Xuexi Qiangguo said Qiangguo Jiaotong was not a “national-level transport platform,” but a mini-program developed in partnership with the China Traffic Communication Information Center (CTCIC), a body under the Ministry of Transport. The platform wouldn’t have its own services but rather would aggregate third-party providers—and DiDi might even be one of them. This is what Alibaba-owned AutoNavi 高德地图 already offers—an aggregator of many smaller ride-hailing services that riders can request with a single click. 

I’ve written about cheat tools for Xuexi Qiangguo, back when some cadres were still required to earn points by reading Party materials or taking quizzes on the app. Nowadays it looks like it’s trying to become a super-app of sorts, a WeChat-wannabe for some 300 million—according to Xuexi’s own estimates—motherland-loving patriots. (Xuexi Qiangguo is, in fact, based on Alibaba’s DingTalk architecture.) It has integrated third-party mini programs for fitness and movie tickets, along with a messaging tab; this new Qiangguo Jiaotong platform would likely be just another sub-service.

If there is anything worth noting, it is perhaps the Ministry of Transport’s and the Propaganda Department’s almost instantaneous denials. Upon realizing this news story was being circulated by both domestic and foreign observers, they appeared to quickly coordinate a response, possibly to debunk any suspicion that DiDi was still in for another expensive ride with the regulators. At this point, it isn’t entirely clear if Qiangguo Jiaotong will even roll out. If it does, the official word suggests its effects on the ride hailing market will likely fall well short of a state takeover.