In the news: Apple invests $1B in Didi, China plans to close MNC tax loopholes, environmental inspection teams target local polluters and the housing authority prepares new rules for property agencies

May 17, 2016 | BY

Katherine Jo &clp articles

This week Apple made its largest China investment yet, tax regulators were said to tighten reporting standards, the Ministry of Environmental Protection was authorized to dispatch inspection teams and stricter measures for the real estate industry were discussed

Apple invests $1 billion in Didi

Apple Inc. has invested $1 billion in Chinese taxi-hailing app company Didi Chuxing Technology Co. (formerly Didi Kuaidi), as the battle for the future of driving intensifies and alliances among automakers, tech firms and ride-sharing companies increase. Didi is reportedly targeting an IPO in New York next year, though the timing may depend on how its competition with Uber Technologies Inc. in China plays out. It is said to be in the process of raising about $3 billion in funding, including Apple's $1 billion contribution, which has swelled its valuation to about $26 billion. The company is backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. Tim Cook is in China again, his eighth visit to the country since he became chief of Apple in 2011 (the front page of China Daily on Tuesday showed a photo of the Apple CEO and Didi president Liu Qing in a Didi taxi). Apple has faced some recent setbacks in China, including declining phone sales and last month's iTunes shutdown, but investments like this show that Apple will not take a backseat in China's surging tech market.

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