Didi Chuxing has rolled out an update on Sunday that officially abandoned Uber, requiring foreign Uber users visiting China to download a separate app.

After four months since the announcement of the merger with Didi Chuxing, Uber is officially out of the Chinese market. Its app with the brand name has officially been deleted from the Uber global app. Although the new Chinese app looks much like the previous version of Uber in China, it now offers a wide range of major changes.

Like Us on Facebook

The updated Uber China app is only available in Mandarin, and foreign tourists need to create an account that requires a local phone number and valid Chinese payment option such as Union Pay, Alibaba’s Alipay digital wallet, or Baidu Wallet. It also has WeChat and QQ connections and other in-app messaging. The new update limits the access to anyone visiting the country. 

“We apologize to our users for any inconvenience may be caused by this transition. The Uber China team has been working hard to make the new version faster-responding and more user friendly,” Uber China/Didi said in a statement.

To make it more locally owned, the Uber China app has completely eliminated English from the choices. However, Didi Chuxing said that the company is making the app a bit more internationally friendly by adding other languages and different payment methods.

According to the company, Uber users have had a month-long transition period. The duration period has aided major upgrades of the new setup.

Uber China promised to the investors that they will receive a 20 percent stake in the new entity. Didi Chuxing has also assured to invest $1 billion in Uber’s global company.

TagsUber, Didi Chuxing, Didi, Uber China, ride-hailing app, ride-hailing service, Uber app