Didi sets sights on lucrative web finance sector

Competition in China's booming mobile payment market is set to intensify, after Didi Chuxing, the country's largest ride-hailing company, acquired a much-coveted license to enter the internet finance sector.

Didi has agreed to acquire third-party payment-services provider 19Pay for 300 million yuan ($45.4 million), according to a filing by Shenzhen-listed GoHigh Data Networks Technology Co, the owner of 19Pay.

The deal will give Didi a license to conduct online-payment business, enabling it to enter an industry dominated by its investors Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd. Didi made the investment through its wholly owned subsidiary Shanghai Shiyuan Technology.