CHINESE ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing raised more than US$500 million in funding for its autonomous driving subsidiary, in a round that was led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, according to an announcement of the company Friday.

It marks the first time Didi’s autonomous driving business has brought in external funding since it was established.

Didi plans to roll out a so-called robo-taxi service in Shanghai soon. Once the product is live, the idea is that users will be able to hail self-driving cars through the firm’s app.

Didi’s ambition is to launch fleets of driverless cars in a number of locations in China. The company gave a nod to China’s ambition to build a comprehensive digital infrastructure network based on high-tech innovations such as 5G mobile Internet, artificial intelligence and advanced Internet technologies.

(Han Ximin)