优步：承认在华每年亏损逾10亿美元

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2020年07月04日

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优步：承认在华每年亏损逾10亿美元

优步CEO：“我们正面临一个凶猛的竞争对手，在所有他们存在的城市我们都没有盈利，但他们正砸钱买进市场份额。我希望世界不是这个样子。”

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

fierce 凶猛的[fɪəs]

outright 全部地[aʊt'raɪt]

break-even 收支平衡的

crucial 决断的['kruːʃ(ə)l]

fundraise 募捐['fʌnd,reiz]

bonanza 富矿带，好运[bə'nænzə]

sovereign 至高无上的['sɒvrɪn]

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Uber losing more than $1bn a year in China（501words）

By Charles Clover in Beijing and Leslie Hook in San Francisco

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Uber has revealed that it is losing more than $1bn a year in China, amid fierce competition from local ride-hailing rival Didi Kuaidi.

But Travis Kalanick, chief executive, insisted that Uber was in a better position than its Chinese rival because it was able to fund its losses, at least partly, by using profits from other countries.

“We’re profitable in the USA, but we’re losing over $1bn a year in China,” Mr Kalanick told Canadian technology news site Betakit. “We have a fierce competitor that’s unprofitable in every city they exist in, but they’re buying up market share. I wish the world wasn’t that way.”

A spokesperson for Didi claimed that Mr Kalanick’s comments on its financial performance were “outright untrue” and said its business had reached break-even in more than half of the 400 Chinese cities in which it operates.

This new war of words underscores the fierce battle between the two companies in China, where they are both spending heavily on discounts and promotions in pursuit of market share. Uber plans to double the number of Chinese cities in which it operates by the end of this year, to nearly 100.

Mr Kalanick’s comments also give an indication of the money being spent. According to documents leaked to website The Information in January, Uber’s global losses grew to nearly $1bn in the first half of last year, nearly 50 per cent more than its full-year losses in 2014. Uber declined to comment on the numbers, but Mr Kalanick told Betakit that the crucial difference between its business and Didi Kuaidi is its ability to offset China losses. Uber is the dominant ride-hailing company in most US markets, and it has pushed up revenues by increasing its booking fee and its commission in many US markets.

“I prefer building rather than fundraising,” Mr Kalanick said in his interview. “But if I don’t participate in the fundraising bonanza, I’ll get squeezed out by others buying market share.”

Uber has raised more than $10bn to date, and its investors include Goldman Sachs, TPG, Fidelity and —— most recently —— Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman. Didi Kuaidi raised $3bn in a fundraising round last year, bringing its total funds raised to more than $4bn from investors including CIC, China’s sovereign wealth fund, Alibaba, and Tencent. Didi has also been an active investor in Uber’s competitors around the world, including Lyft in the US, and Grab in southeast Asia.

Both Uber and Didi have spent heavily on subsidies to drivers and riders in an effort to speed adoption and gain scale, in the hope that costs will fall as the number of drivers and riders increases.

“We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for burning cash,” said Jean Liu, Didi Kuaidi’s president, last September. She argued that, by using subsidies to get more cars on the road, “waiting times were shortened, fares became cheaper, more users were drawn on to the platform —— and drivers on the platform thus wouldn’t require subsidies any longer”.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why the CEO of Uber insisted that it was in a better position than Didi?

a. It was able to fund its losses.

b. It earned more money.

c. It lost less staff.

d. It receive a grant from American government.

2.Where is Uber’s source of profit as mentioned?

a. America

b. China

c. Canada

d. India

3.What is Uber’s plan to push up revenues in some US markets?