Nation's commuters skip taxis as Uber lures with free rides

Jessica Yang switched from taxis to chauffeured cars for the commute into her Beijing office as rides have become cheaper. These days, she often goes for free, because apps such as Uber Technologies Inc offer big incentives to win customers.

"I just go for whatever is cheaper," said Yang, 41, who does not drive and has taken free rides offered by Uber and local rival Didi Kuaidi. "There is no loyalty here. Almost all the cars are better than Beijing's dirty and smelly taxis."

Uber and the clones it spawned are widely considered the next big thing for the technology industry, with venture capital and hedge funds lining up to bet on their prospects. In China, the race to win over hundreds of millions of paying commuters has pushed companies to put market share before profitability, behavior common during the dot-com bubble that peaked in 2000.