Didi launches US ride-hailing service with Lyft

A smartphone app for Lyft drivers is seen during a photo opportunity in San Francisco, California February 3, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

China's largest mobile transportation service provider, Didi Kuaidi, on Tuesday launched a ride-hailing service in the United States through collaboration with Lyft.

From this week, Didi's Chinese users traveling to the US will be able to request rides using the Didi app to access Lyft's driver network. Lyft, the second largest ride-hailing app in the US, is in almost 200 major cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.

According to a statement from Didi, Lyft users will be able to use similar services from Didi's network when roaming in China, beginning in the second quarter of this year.

The cross-border service came months after Didi formed a global rideshare partnership with Lyft, Grab and Ola in December 2015.

Roaming products between Didi and other partners are expected to launch throughout the year to cover over half of the world's population across China, the United States, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

The newly launched service allows Chinese outbound travelers to the US enjoy the whole process from hailing and paying to providing feedback entirely in Chinese.

Users are still allowed to pay in the US via Didi's existing in-app payment in renminbi at official exchange rates. The app also provides translation assistance for driver-passenger communication.