Didi Kuaidi is poised¹ to become the first legal ride-hailing service in Shanghai, under a pilot programme launched by the city’s government designed to bring online private taxi services into the economic mainstream².

“滴滴快的”(Didi Kuaidi)有望成为上海第一款合法的打车服务。上海市政府启动了将在线专车服务融入经济主流的试点计划。

In another sign of Didi Kuaidi’s favour with the state, China Investment Corp, the country’s sovereign-wealth fund, intends to invest in the company as part of a $2bn financing round, according to a person familiar with the situation. The CIC typically takes stakes in projects deemed to be strategic to the country.

“滴滴快的”博得政府青眼的另一个标志是，据一名知情人士透露，中国的主权财富基金——中国投资公司(CIC)有意投资于该公司，参与一轮20亿美元融资。中投公司通常在被视为对国家具有战略意义的项目买入股权。

The group said discussions with Shanghai authorities began in May and the new arrangement would begin with an initiative to register all drivers on the same information platform used by other conventional taxi drivers.

“滴滴快的”称，与上海市有关部门的商讨是在5月启动的，新安排的第一步将是在普通出租车司机所用的同一信息平台上登记所有司机。

Steven Wang, the company’s head of strategy, said Didi Kuaidi “reached a comprehensive co-operation agreement with the Shanghai government”.

公司战略主管Steven Wang表示，滴滴快的“已与上海市政府达成全面合作协议”。

“We are co-operating with the government so it stands to reason that we are in the process of finding a legal path,” he added.

“我们正在与政府开展合作，因此可以说，我们正在寻找一条合法的路径，”他补充说。

Mr Wang said the proposed agreement involved greater sharing of information on drivers and passengers with the government, mandating³ that all data servers had to be stationed in China and transportation⁴ sensitive data must be “uploaded to regulators” and could not be transferred abroad. He added that companies that complied with the agreement would be required to have an internet content provider licence.

Steven Wang说，拟议中的协议涉及更多与政府分享有关司机和乘客的信息，要求所有数据服务器落户中国境内，要求交通敏感数据上传至监管机构，且不得转移到境外。他补充说，遵守该协议的企业将需要获得一份互联网内容提供商许可证。

“We have been working with the Shanghai government to find a total solution,” said Mr Wang. “Didi Kuaidi is the only company that satisfies all the criteria⁵.”

“我们一直在与上海政府合作，希望找到一个全面的解决方案，”Steven Wang说。“滴滴快的是满足所有标准的唯一一家公司。”

Private taxis are illegal in China and local governments in particular have fought against the encroachment⁶ by Didi and Uber, the US ride-hailing app, on lucrative⁷ licensed⁸ taxi monopolies by fining the companies’ drivers.

专车服务在中国是非法的，尤其是地方政府打击滴滴和美国打车应用优步(Uber)蚕食有利可图的出租车专营牌照制度的行为，对这些公司的司机进行处罚。

However, China’s political leaders have made clear that they see potential benefits from such services, including the reduction of traffic congestion⁹ and pollution. Shanghai has traditionally been used as a testing ground for new economic policies before they are rolled out nationally.

然而，中国的政治领导人已表明，他们认为此类服务具有潜在效益，包括减少交通拥堵和污染。上海历来被当作新经济政策在全国推广之前的试验场。

Mr Wang said he had no information on whether the company’s drivers had been exempted¹⁰ from police raids on private taxis last month in which several dozen drivers reportedly had their cars impounded and police had threatened to revoke¹¹ their licences.

Steven Wang说，他不清楚滴滴快的的司机是否在上月警方对专车采取的执法行动中获得豁免。在那次行动中，据报道有数十名司机的汽车被扣押，警方威胁要吊销他们的驾照。

Uber was the only service mentioned by name in media reports, but the US company said it had not been singled out.

优步是媒体报道中唯一被点名的服务，但这家美国公司称，它并不是唯一的打压对象。

Didi’s efforts at legalisation in Shanghai will do little to dispel¹² the impression that China’s domestic internet companies face fewer challenges operating in the country than their foreign competitors.

滴滴在上海做出的合法化努力，将无助于消除这样的印象，即中国国内互联网企业比外国竞争对手面对更少的挑战。

“Of the five criterion mentioned, it is quite obvious that Uber is the only company that will have trouble in legalisation, apparently¹³, as its servers are overseas,” said Zhang Xu, an expert on ride-hailing apps at Analysys, the Beijing-based internet consultancy.

“在提到的五个标准中，很明显优步是唯一在合法化方面有麻烦的公司，因为其服务器在境外，”北京互联网咨询公司易观国际(Analysys)的打车应用专家张旭表示。

Uber said it did not see “any hurdles¹⁴” complying with the conditions, adding: “We believe the Shanghai government will support Uber as a tech-driven internet company bringing innovation to the city as much as they support other players in the market.”

优步表示，它看不出满足这些条件有“任何障碍”，并称：“我们相信，上海市政府将支持优步作为一家技术驱动型的互联网企业，把创新带到该市，就像他们支持市场上的其他企业一样。”

The company said on Monday that it had completed the set-up of Uber China, the only separate company it has created in a major market that it has targeted. Analysts¹⁵ said the move could be an effort to comply with the country’s legalisation requirements.

该公司周一表示，它已完成了优步中国(Uber China)的组建工作，这是它在大型目标市场创建的唯一独立实体。分析师们表示，此举可能是为了遵守中国的合法化要求。