Baidu Leads New $1.2 Billion Funding Of Uber In China

Ride sharing giant Uber has raised $1.2 billion in new funding to invest in its business in China, Fortune reports. The round, led by Chinese Internet giant Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), which had already invested in Uber, values Uber’s China subsidiary at $8 billion. The new direct investment of Baidu hasn’t been discosed, but Baidu could now now be a 5 percent equity holder in Uber. Uber itself was valued at $50 billion in its last round of funding.

Uber, which currently operates in 20 Chinese cities, plans to expand its operations in China to other 100 cities, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said on Tuesday at an event in Beijing hosted by Baidu, Reuters reports.

“Progress is something we see the government [of China] be incredibly open to, whether it be about more jobs and less pollution, less congestion on the streets, better utilization of infrastructure, that kind of progress always has to be in harmony with stability and that is one of the big things that we partnered with the government on,” said Kalanick.

The Baidu connection is very important to Uber, and instrumental to getting things done in China. “We can get introductions to the city governments, the government officials that want to shepherd our kind of innovation and our kind of progress into their cities,” said Kalanick, and added that Uber will welcome the new regulations expected later this year governing ride-hailing services in China.

Restrictive regulations, hastily issued by governments to appease the angered taxi drivers threatened by the disruptive impact that Uber is having on urban transport in Western cities, are among the main obstacles that Uber has to face. But Chinese regulators are likely to be more open, and therefore Uber is betting big on the Chinese market.