Car-hailing giant halts 'hitch' service

Didi Chuxing, the country's largest online car-hailing platform, on Sunday decided to suspend its "hitch" ride service nationwide after the alleged rape and murder of a female passenger by a Didi driver in Zhejiang province over the weekend.

Beginning Monday, the company will halt its online hitch ride services across the country and re-evaluate its business model, the company said in a statement.

Didi's slow response to emergency calls has been widely blamed in the Zhejiang case, the second such homicide this year after a flight attendant was killed by her hitch service driver on May 5 in Zhengzhou, Henan province.