China’s Two Largest Taxi Apps Merge

China’s two largest taxi-hailing applications, backed separately by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., have announced a merger that will help them cope with rising competition.

Hangzhou Kuaidi Technology Co., known as Kuaidi Dache, completed an alliance with Didi Dache, according to a joint statement e-mailed on Saturday, which didn’t name the merged entity. A briefing will be held after the week-long Lunar New Year holiday that begins in China on Feb. 18.