Didi Kuaidi appoints Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang as adviser

[SHANGHAI] Didi Kuaidi has appointed Yahoo co- founder Jerry Yang as a senior adviser to the ride-hailing app company as it battles Uber Technologies for market share in China.

Mr Yang, who is an independent director of Alibaba Group Holding, which backs Didi Kuaidi, will also be an observer on the board, the company said in an e-mailed statement.

"Jerry is a visionary, a pioneer and an investment leader in the Internet technology industry," Cheng Wei, founder and chief executive officer of Didi Kuaidi, said in the statement.

"His experience and insights on the global and Asian technology sector will greatly benefit Didi's long-term strategy to build a leading mobile internet platform of global scale." Didi Kuaidi recently forged a global alliance with other ride-hailing providers, such as Lyft and India's Ola to increase its presence and gain market share globally. The Chinese company raised about US$3 billion from investors, valuing the company at about US$16.5 billion. Didi Kuaidi's investors include SoftBank Corp and Ping An Insurance (Group) Co.

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