Uber has reportedly registered a new company in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone with CNY2.1 billion registered capital.
According to reports in Chinese local media, this is reportedly Uber's only independent company outside of America.
Uber said that they plan to move their Chinese business to servers within the Chinese territory and the company will invest up to CNY6.3 billion in China in the future.
Uber started operation in the Chinese market in February 2014. So far, it has already entered into 21 Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, and Hangzhou. In September 2015, the company launched its carpooling service named UberCommute in China, which was the first time for Uber to release a new function outside America.
Liu Zhen, Uber's head of China strategy, previously said that Uber China's goal is to become a local operated and local invested enterprise that cooperates with government management and serves Chinese people. They aim to be a Chinese local company.
Liu said the outside world has a lot of misunderstandings of the relationship between Uber and the Chinese government. Uber China has maintained smooth communications with Chinese governments at all levels, Liu says.
This close association with local Chinese governments could be problematic in the future. Some municipalities in China have connections to local transportation companies, so intertwined relationships may either hinder Uber's entrance to some cities or it could propel entry if local governments are provided backdoor entry to the company.