China’s happiest city Chengdu replaces New York to rank as car-hailing app Uber’s busiest globally
US company says Sichuan capital tops the table in terms of average daily no. of completed rides using the app among 340 cities
Known for its pandas, spicy hot pot, pretty women and billing as China’s happiest city, Chengdu in Sichuan province has racked up another claim to fame: it is car-hailing app Uber’s most successful city globally.
The San Francisco-based company said the sprawling metropolis in southwest China replaced New York several months ago in terms of the average daily number of completed trips made using the app. However it only released the information this week, citing a letter to investors from Chief executive Travis Kalanick dating back to May.
In the letter, Kalanick said that the three Chinese cities of Chengdu, wealthy Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province and Guangzhou in southern Guangdong had all eclipsed the Big Apple in terms of daily rides "in just nine months" of Uber setting up there. In contrast, the ap has been operating in New York for four years.
READ MORE: Eight reasons why Chengdu beats Shanghai
"Trips in China have grown at a 100 per cent monthly compound rate since the beginning of the year ... [and] will most likely surpass the US before year-end," he wrote.
"We are now creating over 100,000 new full-time-equivalent [driving] jobs per month across the country."
This level of volume puts Chengdu No. 1 among about 340 cities served by Uber, which announced in Beijing last month a roadmap to expand into another 100 Chinese cities within the next year. It launched a Chinese company, Uber China, in February 2014.
