Ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing has bought its major rival Uber's China operation in a 35-billion-US-dollar-deal to end bruising competition between the two. This is according to Didi's official statement. The news came just days after China legalised online ride-hailing services, paving the way for the new entity after the merger to expand in the Chinese market.

After a long period of speculations, Didi Chuxing has finally announced its move to buy taxi hailing app Uber on Monday.
The entire operation of Uber, including branding, data, and business will be merged into Didi Chuxing.

"Uber China will maintain its independent operation in China and to provide customers with stable services. In the future Didi will continue expand its international strategy, cooperate with overseas partners, and push deeper into the emerging mobile market in overseas, such as Japan, South Korea, and Russia," said Zheng Jiantao, director of PR department, Didi Chuxing.

Experts say the merger is the best outcome of the two firms which have been battling for market shares for years.

"The purpose of the merger is to lower costs. Because if they continue fighting against each other, they will keep burning cash, and no body can totally eat the other side," said Lv Benfu, professor of University of CASS.

Uber will become Didi's largest shareholder by holding one-fifth stake in the new business. And Didi will also invest 1 billion US dollars in Uber. The move is seen as part of Didi's international expansion, in which the ride-hailing giant has formed an alliance with Lyft, India's ride service Ola and Southeast Asia's ride-hailing startup Grab in an effort to compete with Uber's global dominance.