China ride-hailing giant Didi sees losses deepen after crackdown

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global has seen its losses deepen after Beijing ordered online stores not to offer the company's app.

The firm reported an operating loss of $6.3bn (£4.7bn) for the first nine months of year as revenues in China fell by 5% in the third quarter.

The Chinese crackdown came just days after Didi made its New York stock market debut at the end of June.

This month, it said it will move its share listing to Hong Kong from the US.

In recent months, Didi has become one of the most high profile targets of Beijing's clampdown on the country's technology industry.

The restrictions placed on it by authorities in China have hit its share price in the US hard.

The company's value on the New York Stock Exchange has fallen by 65% since its debut less than six months ago.

In its latest report to investors the firm also said that its board had authorised it to pursue a listing of its shares on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

"The company is executing above plans and will update investors in due course," Didi said.

Didi's announcement early in December that it planned to leave the US stock market came on the same day that the US Securities and Exchange Commission said it had finalised rules that would mean US-listed foreign companies can be delisted if their auditors do not comply with requests for information from regulators.

"Following careful research, the company will immediately start delisting on the New York stock exchange and start preparations for listing in Hong Kong," the company said at the time.

Didi also said in Thursday's announcement that Daniel Zhang, the chief executive of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, who had served as a director on its board since 2018, has resigned from the role.

As well as coming under intense scrutiny from Chinese regulators, Didi now faces tough competition in its home market from ride-hailing services launched by car makers Geely and SAIC Motor.