China's Didi Chuxing is forming a strategic partnership with Careem, a mobile ride-hailing platform that operates in the Middle East and North Africa regions.

As a part of the cooperation, Didi will make an investment in Careem. However, no financial terms of the deal were made available. Meanwhile, the two parties will implement sharing and cooperation in smart transportation technology and product development and operation.

Cheng Wei, founder and chief executive officer of Didi Chuxing, said that urban populations in the Middle East and North Africa are growing rapidly and the economic and social structure of those regions has become more diversified which creates huge development space for the shared transportation industry. With the cooperation, they are looking forward to inspiring technology innovations to promote the transportation industry development of the Middle East and North Africa and release the potential of local Internet economies. At the same time, Didi expects to further promote its technologies and experience in the international market.

Mudassir Sheikha, co-founder and chief executive officer of Careem, said that Didi brings important artificial intelligence technologies, knowledge and vision to Careem. They are looking forward to a deep long-term relationship to seize growth opportunities with technology innovation and sustainable development.

Founded in Dubai in July 2012, Careem is a ride-hailing service provider in the Middle East and North Africa. The company operates in more than 80 cities in 13 countries, including Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. It has over 250,000 drivers and 12 million users.