滴滴再融資73億美元 拼車應用燒錢大戰加劇

HONG KONG — With more internet users than any other country and a fast-rising middle class, China is one of the most sought-after markets in the world.

香港——中國擁有比其他任何國家都多的互聯網用戶，還有一個快速壯大的中產階級，由此成爲全球最炙手可熱的市場之一。

Recent fund-raising rounds in the ride-sharing market show it is Also one of the most expensive.

拼車應用市場最近出現的融資動作則顯示出，這也是最昂貴的市場之一。

The Chinese car-hailing app Didi Chuxing said on Thursday that it had brought in $7.3 billion in its latest round of fund-raising, which included Apple, Alibaba, and SoftBank as investors. The new funds give the company a total of $10.5 billion in disposable funds, and put its valuation at $28 billion, according to a person familiar with the fund-raising.

中國打車軟件滴滴出行週四表示，它在最近一輪融資中籌得73億美元資金，投資方包括蘋果(Apple)、阿里巴巴、軟銀(SoftBank)等。據知情人士透露，本輪融資令這家企業手握總計105億美元的可支配資金，並使其估值達到280億美元。

That Didi’s valuation is now almost half that of the $62.5 billion valuation of its main rival in China, Uber, shows how much potential investors see in China. Yet the size of the cash infusions also underscores the market’s difficulties.

滴滴出行目前的估值幾乎達到它在中國的主要競爭對手優步(Uber)的一半，後者的估值是625億美元。這顯示出投資者有多麼看好中國市場。然而，這麼大規模的注資也突顯出開發這個市場的難度。

In part because of China’s widespread blocking of foreign websites, the competition between Uber and Didi marks the first time in recent history a major foreign tech company has vied so intensely with a local Chinese business.

優步和滴滴出行之間的競爭，是近期歷史上第一次有一家外國大技術公司與中國本土企業展開如此激烈的競爭。這在一定程度上是因爲中國普遍封鎖外國網站。

In other markets the contest over ride-sharing has focused on regulation and technology, but in China it has been much more about cash, with the two companies spending billions. The most recent round has also pulled in Apple, pitting America’s biggest tech company against America’s best-known start-up, Uber, in a tricky Chinese market. Both see China as critical to growth.

在其他一些市場，拼車服務的競爭集中在監管和技術方面，但在中國，這種競爭與資金的關聯度要大得多。兩家公司都砸下了數以億計的資金。最近這輪融資還將蘋果公司拉了進來，令美國規模最大的科技公司與美國最知名的創業公司在複雜的中國市場產生了競爭關係。兩家企業都認爲中國市場對自身的增長至關重要。

The fund-raising comes as executives from Didi and Uber have signaled that they are focusing on profitability in China.

這輪融資出現的時刻恰逢滴滴出行和優步的高管均表示他們會注重增加在中國市場的盈利能力。

Although Didi has attracted investment from some of the largest technology companies in the world, Uber has vowed to plow profits from other markets into China, and this month announced $3.5 billion in new money from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

儘管滴滴出行吸引到一些全球最大的技術企業的投資，優步卻承諾它會將公司在其他市場獲得的利潤投入中國市場。本月，優步宣佈從沙特阿拉伯主權財富基金獲得了35億美元的新投資。

Uber gained first-mover advantage by introducing its business model, which relies on enlisting drivers to shuttle around passengers, complementing it with big subsidies. Didi quickly responded with its own service, offering similarly big inducements.

通過引入自己的商業模式，優步獲得了先發優勢。這種模式是招募司機運送乘客，輔之以大額補貼。滴滴出行很快以自己的服務做出迴應，也提供類似的大額獎勵。

Since then both companies have been locked in a spending war. Though it has primarily taken the form of subsidies, both companies have also tried to develop technology specific to China, and have actively wooed both local and national government officials.

自那之後，兩家企業陷入了燒錢大戰。儘管主要是以補貼的形式出現，但雙方都試圖開發出專門針對中國市場的技術，同時積極討好地方和中央政府官員。

Didi has focused on technology that better predicts car arrival times, given China’s unruly traffic, while Uber has developed a commute function that links drivers with riders based on where they live and work.

考慮到中國不可控的交通狀況，滴滴出行側重於更好地預測車輛到達時間，優步則開發出一種通勤功能，基於乘客的居住地和工作地將他們與司機聯繫起來。

Although both companies have said they plan to dial back spending, the new war chests accumulated by each may make that hard. Didi has said it is profitable in half of the 400 cities it operates in, while Uber has said it is spending a quarter what it was spending per ride in China last year and providing four times as many rides.

儘管兩家公司都表示他們計劃減少支出，但雙方新近積累的這些備戰基金可能會讓他們難以收手。滴滴出行表示，它在自己開展業務的400多座城市中的一半區域實現了盈利。優步則宣稱，目前在中國的每次出行上的支出平均只有去年的四分之一，提供搭乘服務的次數則是去年的四倍。

Uber continues to press Didi in smaller cities. Uber said in a recent news release it is now in 60 Chinese cities, and in Zhengzhou, a provincial capital in central China, Uber said it hit a million trips less than a month after it entered in late May.

優步持續在規模較小的城市向滴滴出行施壓。它在最近發佈的新聞稿中表示，公司現在的業務覆蓋了中國60座城市。優步披露，在5月底進入華中地區的省會城市鄭州之後不到一個月的時間裏，公司就提供了100萬次搭乘服務。

In its statement Didi said it had procured $4.5 billion in equity investment from Apple, China Life, Ant Financial and other existing shareholders like SoftBank, Tencent and Alibaba. China Merchants Bank offered a syndicated loan of up to $2.5 billion as a part of the fund-raising, and China Life offered $300 million as a long-term debt investment.

滴滴出行在聲明中稱，它從蘋果、中國人壽、螞蟻金服，以及軟銀、騰訊和阿里巴巴等其他現有股東那裏獲得了45億美元的股權投資。作爲這輪融資的一部分，中國招商銀行給它安排了25億美元的銀團貸款，中國人壽則提供了3億美元的長期債權投資。