Chinese Didi to form joint venture with BP to build electric vehicle charging

Didi Chuxing, the Chinese giant, has teamed up with BP to build electric vehicle charging stations in China.

The company announced Thursday that it would form a joint venture with the British oil group to provide charging services to Didi and non-Didi car owners.

BP has already paired its first charging site in the Chinese port city of Guangzhou with Didi's open automotive solutions platform, Didi said in a statement. The Chinese company injected a billion dollars into its automotive services business, called XAS, last year.

The goal is to develop the network load "significantly" in China after the creation of the joint venture with BP, said Didi.

"We look forward to combining our strengths to create a strong electric vehicle charging network in China, to promote the growth of the new energy sector and to provide a better experience for car owners across the country," said the president and CEO. Didi's general, Cheng Wei, in a statement.

China has quickly become the world's largest market for electric cars, helped in large part by subsidies to automakers. And a number of start-ups, including Xpeng and WM Motors, have emerged to challenge American giant Tesla.

But the country's electric vehicle market has shown signs of slowing growth in the context of the US-China trade war and a decline in government support.

"The lessons we draw from this experience will help us further develop BP's advanced mobility activities around the world, by contributing to the energy transition and developing solutions for a low-carbon world," said Tufan. Erginbilgic, BP's downstream director, in a statement.

Didi has made waves on the Chinese scene by buying Uber 's operations in 2016, and the company is gradually expanding abroad, including to Australia and Mexico.