Uber launches raft of new services as it looks to expand in China

Ride-hailing app Uber is pushing further into China with a range of promotions designed to branch out from mere car-hailing, and into boats, rickshaws and helicopters.

On April 25, the San Francisco-based company, will unveil UberChopper allowing users to hail flights on a sightseeing helicopter ride around Shanghai. A promotional email describes "hovering over sights including the Shanghai World Expo park, the Bund, Century Park and the Huangpu river". It says the trip, including transport in an Uber Mercedes-Benz to and from the helipad will cost Rmb2,999 ($484).

The event is a one-day promotion designed to "raise awareness" of Uber, and gauge the interest in airborne services.

"Depending on market demand and user interest, we will further explore potential for air travel as a possibility," the company said, as it introduced a service that it has already used in other countries, including the US, India, Brazil and South Africa.

Within the past month, the company also rolled out the test run of a rickshaw-hailing service in a tourist neighbourhood in downtown Beijing, as well as a boat-hailing service in the southern city of Hangzhou's scenic West Lake.

The company is a relative late-comer to the Chinese market and faces intense competition from established local players Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, which have sewn up the lower end of the market. The pair announced a merger in March, creating a Goliath in the Chinese car-hailing industry.

A study by Beijing-based Enfodesk, an internet consultancy, in the fourth quarter last year put Kaudi's share of the market at 56.5 per cent and, Didi at 43.3 per cent of the taxi app market and leaving "other" category at 0.2 per cent.

However Uber stresses that it is more competitive in the high-end of the market, via its UberBlack service, which features Audis and other luxury cars.

Uber also offers both a bargain basement "People's Uber" service, priced roughly the same as a traditional taxi ride.

The company is no stranger to controversy with Chinese regulators. Authorities have periodically cracked down on private cars using internet-hailing apps in a bid to protect state-regulated taxi companies whose fares are capped. Many of China's largest taxi companies are owned by municipal government entities.

The Chinese government has made an effort recently to rationalise and regulate the ride-hailing app market. The ministry of transport said last week that private car services "can meet market demands for high quality and diverse methods of transport".

However, it added, "issues remain in private car services, such as illegal operations, obscure responsibilities for platforms, and little guarantee of the passenger's consumer rights and personal safety".

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