CHINA’S Didi Chuxing said it had set up a joint venture with Beijing Electric Vehicle Co., a unit of State-owned BAIC, to work on new energy vehicle (NEV) and artificial intelligence projects.

The venture, BAIC-Xiaoju New Energy Auto Technology Co., aims to develop “next-generation connected-car systems,” Didi, China’s largest ride-hailing operator, said yesterday.

This is the first joint venture between Didi and BAIC, which wants to stop selling gas-driven car models by 2025 as China shifts the industry toward new energy vehicles.

In 2018, car sales in China hit reverse for the first time since the 1990s. But NEV sales were a bright spot, jumping 61.7 percent to 1.3 million units, China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers has said.

NEV sales in China will hit 1.6 million this year, the industry body estimates.

Didi said there are already 400,000 NEVs registered on its platform through its partnerships with leading electric vehicle makers including Shenzhen-based BYD Co.

Didi, whose backers include Uber Technologies Inc., Apple Inc. and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp., is reshuffling its domestic business as it expands globally with new services in South America and Australia.

(SD-Agencies)