Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing Technology Co. may finally be starting its long-rumored international expansion, as a report Thursday claimed the company is about to open up shop in Mexico.

Reuters made the claim, quoting two sources familiar with the plans as saying that Didi will enter Mexico sometime in the first quarter of 2018. It would be the first time it has moved out of its native market and possibly the start of a broader international expansion that will, in many markets, bring it into direct competition with Uber Technologies Inc.

The launch is said to involve a smartphone app in Mexico, possibly with a local name, given that Didi Chuxing is hard to type and pronounce for non-Chinese people, with the company also planning to recruit local drivers to the platform. Which cities Didi may target is unknown at this stage, but the report claims representatives from the company recently met with ProMexico, a government trade and investment body to discuss opportunities in the country.

Didi is a long-term investor in Uber rivals worldwide, including Southeast Asia’s GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. Ltd. and India’s Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd.). But in a twist of fate, or in this case history, not only the owner of Uber China but Uber itself hold a 20 percent stake in Didi. That means that if Didi beats Uber in any market it enters, Uber will also directly benefit via its shareholding.

Didi and Uber are the world’s two largest startups by valuation, Didi at $50 billion as of its last round in April and Uber at $68.5 billion when it raised money in November, though amid Uber’s many struggles, investor SoftBank Group Corp. valued it at $48 billion. The two companies are also rivals in the nascent self-driving car market, with divergent success: Uber has ongoing issues, while Didi set up a research lab in Silicon Valley in March.

Photo: carloszgz/Flickr