CRI听力:Chinese Taxi Apps Deny Monopoly Concerns

The merger of China's two biggest taxi hailing apps, Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, is not a monopoly, one of the parties in the deal argued in a report by the Xinhua news agency.

Earlier, Li Min, spokesperson for the combined operations, has said their merger is a "flash marriage" meant to promote market growth. Check out the latest report by China Radio International.

China's anti-monopoly law states that the companies which want to merge should report to the Ministry of Commerce's anti-monopoly bureau if their combined turnover in the last fiscal year exceeded two billion yuan (about 320 million U.S. dollars) and at least two of them reported turnover of more than 400 million yuan.

Since the two companies' combined revenue is far lower than the standard, they are not obliged to report to the bureau, Tao Ran, a senior vice president with Kuaidi Dache, told Xinhua.

Liu Chenglin, a lawyer with Liuhe Law Firm in Zhejiang Province, said the law does not prohibit a company from obtaining a dominant market position, but disallows abuse of the position.

The two rivals announced the merger, the largest merger in China's internet history, on Saturday.

The newly formed company, which is yet to announce an official name, has been valued at 6 billion U.S. dollars.

Hangzhou-based Kuaidi and Beijing-based Didi will retain their own brands and business operations.