Didi Chuxing, China’s largest ride-hailing company, has made no secret of its admiration for Apple. The company’s official name, Xiao Ju Keji, which means Little Orange Technology, is a reference to the US technology group. Visitors to Didi’s campus in Beijing are told how Cheng Wei, its founder, was looking at the logo on an Apple store and thought, “If I can’t be an apple, I can be an orange”.

作为中国最大的打车应用公司，滴滴出行(Didi Chuxing)毫不掩饰自己对苹果(Apple)的仰慕之情，该公司法定名字“小桔科技”就是参照了这家美国科技集团的名字。人们参观滴滴出行在北京的公司园区时会被告知，其创始人程维曾在一家苹果商店看着那个标识心想，“我当不了苹果，可以当桔子嘛。”

That admiration seems to be working in both directions: Apple invested $1bn in Didi last week, its biggest minority investment ever.

而这种仰慕之情似乎是双向的，上周苹果向滴滴投资10亿美元，这是苹果迄今为少数股权作出的最大单笔投资。

The deal is not a huge outlay for a company that has net cash of $153bn but it is an unusual move given that Apple has previously shied away from using its cash to invest in start-ups. Unlike other big tech companies, such as Google and Intel, which have active venture arms, Apple has a longstanding tradition of incubating new ideas in-house.

对于一家坐拥1530亿美元现金的公司来说，这笔交易算不上巨额投资，但考虑到苹果此前不愿动用现金投资于初创企业，这是一项不寻常的举动。谷歌(Google)和英特尔(Intel)都有活跃的风投部门，但苹果与其他科技巨头不同，它有着从内部孵化新创意的悠久传统。

The Didi investment also points to the growing list of challenges facing Apple in China, a country that has become increasingly important to its growth prospects. It could have wide ramifications for Apple’s efforts to move beyond the iPhone into services, say analysts.

对滴滴的这笔投资也反映出苹果在华所面临的越来越多的挑战；中国市场对其增长前景正变得日益重要。分析师们表示，苹果正在拓展关注点，使其超越iPhone，进入服务范畴，此举或许对这方面的努力有广泛影响。

For several years, China had been a key source of fresh demand for Apple as iPhone penetration reached saturation in more developed markets such as the US. But this reversed dramatically in the most recent quarter, when sales in greater China dropped 26 per cent, contributing to Apple’s first drop in revenues in more than a decade.

近年来，随着iPhone在美国等较发达市场普及率达到饱和，中国一直是苹果新需求的主要来源。但上季度该局面发生了戏剧性逆转，大中华区销售下降26%，在一定程度上造成苹果十几年来首次营收下降。

The disappointing sales figures were just the latest bad news out of China for the US group, at a time when the government has become increasingly restrictive towards foreign tech companies.

令人失望的销售数字只是这家美国公司从中国传来的最新坏消息，中国政府对外国科技公司的态度正变得越来越严厉。

Following the passage of new laws on internet content this year, Apple’s film and book services were blocked in April. And this month, the company lost a lawsuit against a Chinese group that uses the word “iPhone” on leather cases and accessories. Apple has also tussled with Beijing over data.

继中国政府今年出台新的互联网内容管理规定后，苹果的电影和图书服务在4月被封杀。本月该公司又输掉了一场商标抢注官司，无法阻止一家中国企业在皮套和皮革配件上使用“IPHONE”名称。苹果与中国政府还在数据方面有争执。

Carl Icahn, the activist investor who had been one of Apple’s biggest shareholders, pointed to the company’s challenges in China as a key reason behind his decision to sell all his stock. He told CNBC a day after the disappointing results that Beijing could “come in and make it very difficult for Apple to sell there”.

维权投资者卡尔•伊坎(Carl Icahn)曾是苹果最大股东之一。他指出该公司在中国面临的挑战是他决定出售所持全部股票的主要原因。他在苹果发布令人失望业绩的次日对财经新闻频道CNBC表示，北京方面可能会做出各种动作，“使苹果很难在那里销售”。

Apple may hope to benefit politically from its alliance with one of China’s leading start-ups. “The policymakers in China have been more and more open,” said Jean Liu, president of Didi, in a media briefing on Friday. “There’s a very good foundation where we can help each other in many ways.”

苹果可能希望借助与中国领先的初创企业之一结盟，获得政治上的优待。上周五，滴滴总裁柳青(Jean Liu)在新闻发布会上表示，中国的政策制定者越来越开放，两家公司有非常好的合作基础，可以在很多方面互相帮助。

Apple’s investment in Didi, its first publicly disclosed funding of a transportation company, which valued the Chinese group at $25bn, underscores how the company is looking beyond hardware and toward services.

苹果对滴滴的投资让这家中国企业估值达到250亿美元，这也是苹果首次公开宣布投资一家运输公司，凸显苹果正寻求从硬件拓展进入服务。

Apple’s $3bn acquisition of Beats Electronics, the headphone maker and music service, in 2014, was instrumental in the launch of streaming service Apple Music a year later.

2014年，苹果以30亿美元收购了耳机制造商和音乐服务供应商Beats Electronics，一年后以那笔收购为依托，推出了流媒体服务苹果音乐(Apple Music)。

Meanwhile Apple has been working on a secretive car project, though the company has never publicly acknowledged this. Several of Apple’s recent acquisitions have been of small start-ups with technologies that could be useful in an intelligent car.

与此同时，苹果一直在神神秘秘地推进一个汽车项目（该公司从未公开承认这个项目的存在）。在苹果最近进行的收购交易中，有几家小型初创企业的技术可以用于智能汽车。

Asked on Friday about whether Apple and Didi could go beyond ride sharing — to work jointly to develop their own smart or driverless cars, Ms Liu was coy. “We are confident that we will benefit each other on product, on technology, and on many other levels,” she said.

上周五，柳青被问及苹果和滴滴会不会超越打车服务，合作开发它们自己的智能汽车或无人驾驶汽车，她不愿明确回答，只表示：“我们相信彼此将在产品、技术以及其他许多层面上互惠互利。”

Ms Liu would not disclose specifics of how Apple and Didi would collaborate, but she said product integration, marketing and data science were possible areas.

柳青不愿具体透露苹果和滴滴未来将如何合作，但她表示可能的领域包括产品集成、市场营销和数据科学。

Geoff Blaber, an analyst at CCS, says: “It’s about diversification into services and learning about what is becoming a very segmented automobile market.” As it gets into services, Apple will need to better understand local markets, he adds, and the Didi partnership could help.

CCS分析师杰夫•布拉韦尔(Geoff Blaber)表示：“关键在于多元化，进入服务领域，并了解正在变得高度割据的汽车市场。”他补充说，随着苹果涉足服务领域，它将需要更充分地了解当地市场，与滴滴的合作伙伴关系可能有帮助。

Didi has joined a strategic partnership with fellow Asian car hailing apps Ola in India, GrabTaxi in Southeast Asia, and Lyft in the US, in what some say has come to resemble a global coalition against Uber, Didi’s main competitor.

滴滴已经与印度的Ola、东南亚的GrabTaxi等亚洲打车应用企业，以及美国的Lyft结成战略伙伴关系；有人说，这有点像抗衡优步（Uber，滴滴在中国的主要竞争对手）的全球联盟。

Apple’s cash arrives at a crucial time for Didi, as it is locked in an expensive subsidy war with Uber China, as well as two other Chinese ride-sharing start-ups, Yidao and Shenzhou. Didi has raised more than $2bn from investors as part of this fundraising round, including the funds from Apple, bringing its total funds raised to more than $6bn.

对于滴滴来说，苹果这笔现金来得正是时候，该公司正陷入一场昂贵的补贴大战，另一方是优步中国(Uber China)，以及易到(Yidao)和神州(Shenzhou)两家中国共乘应用初创企业。包括苹果此次投资在内，滴滴在此轮融资中已从投资者筹得20多亿美元，令其筹资总额提高到60多亿美元。

Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive, said he had heard of the Apple deal only on the day it was announced even though the companies worked together. “We have a partnership with Apple,” he says. “We have done so many things with them and continue to partner with Apple in ways that move the industry forward and get us excited.”

优步首席执行官特拉维斯•卡兰尼克(Travis Kalanick)表示，自己是在苹果宣布消息当日才听说这笔交易的，尽管两家公司有合作关系。他说：“我们与苹果有合作伙伴伙伴。我们与苹果已经一起做了很多事，并将继续与他们合作，推动产业前景，令双方都为此振奋。”

For Apple, a single investment in Didi is not going to make its challenges disappear overnight, particularly when it comes to privacy issues.

对苹果而言，对滴滴的一次投资不会让其面临的挑战一夜间消失，特别是涉及到隐私问题。

“Certainly their various services beyond hardware will continue to face a lot of pressure here,” says Mark Natkin, managing director at Marbridge Consulting in Beijing. He adds that privacy is a thorny issue for any foreign tech company. “If you are not very comfortable giving the government access to your data you can’t do business here.”

北京迈博瑞咨询(Marbridge Consulting)董事总经理马克•纳特金(Mark Natkin)表示：“在中国，他们在硬件以外提供的各项服务肯定将继续面临很大的压力。”他补充说，隐私对任何外国科技公司都是一个棘手的问题。“如果不愿让中国政府访问你的数据，那你就无法在这里做生意。”

At the same time, Didi is facing its own political challenges in China, as Beijing is preparing new regulations on ridesharing that could radically reshape its business. Those rules, first issued in draft form last October, are being revised and have come to be seen as a litmus test in the struggle between the government’s pro-innovation and conservative forces.

与此同时，滴滴自身在中国也面临政治方面的挑战，北京方面正在准备出台针对打车的新法规，可能会彻底重塑其业务模式。这些规则（去年10月公布了草案）正在进行修订，它们已被视为检验政府内部支持创新的力量与保守势力之间较量的试金石。

While Didi already has the backing of China’s most powerful tech companies, including Tencent and Alibaba, which are both investors, the relationship between these tech giants and the state-owned sector has at times been an uneasy one.

虽然滴滴早已获得中国实力最强大的科技公司——包括腾讯(Tencent)与阿里巴巴(Alibaba)，两家公司都是滴滴的投资方——的支持，但这些科技巨头与国有部门之间的关系有时也不是太和谐。

But the race for the Chinese ridesharing market continues. Didi says it is still fundraising for its current round, and has not yet disclosed who its other investors are.

但对中国打车市场的争夺仍在继续。滴滴表示，该公司仍在为本轮融资筹集资金，目前尚未披露还包括哪些投资者。

Additional reporting by Charles Clover and Richard Waters

查尔斯•克洛弗(Charles Clover)、理查德•沃特斯(Richard Waters)补充报道

How is Didi likely to spend the $1bn from Apple?

滴滴将如何利用苹果的10亿美元投资？

Didi says the money will be invested in products and new technology. But some experts say it will be needed to fuel its battle with US-based Uber for market share in China, writes Charles Clover.

滴滴称，将利用这笔资金投资产品和新技术。但是一些专家称，这笔钱会被投入滴滴与总部位于美国的优步争夺中国市场份额的竞争。

China’s car-hailing wars have seen both sides spend billions of dollars funding discounts for customers and subsidies to drivers.

在中国的打车服务之战中，双方均支出数十亿美元向顾客提供折扣，向司机提供补贴。

In March Didi’s chairman, Cheng Wei, told the website QQ Tech that the company had set aside $4bn raised since last year to spend on what he called “market fostering”. It was not clear how much of it had already been spent, though estimates based on a financial presentation made last year suggest Didi could have lost $1.4bn last year mainly on subsidies. Uber lost $1bn last year in China according to chief executive Travis Kalanick.

3月，滴滴的首席执行官程维告诉腾讯科技，该公司已经留出了自去年以来融资的40亿美元，用于他所谓的“市场培育”。这笔钱已经花费了多少不得而知，不过基于去年一份财务陈述的估计认为，滴滴去年可能亏损了14亿美元，主要用于补贴。优步首席执行官特拉维斯•卡兰尼克表示，优步去年在中国亏损了10亿美元。

Ge Jia, an influential tech blogger, says he believes Didi may be spending more on subsidies than it lets on — Didi is three or four times the size of Uber in China and drivers who work for both say the rate of subsidies is roughly the same. “Didi cannot afford to lower subsidies or that will just be surrendering its users to competitors.”

具有影响力的科技博主葛佳（音）称，他相信滴滴在补贴上的花费或许超出了准备——滴滴的规模是优步的三到四倍，为这两家公司工作的司机称，双方的补贴率差不多一样。“滴滴承受不起较低补贴，否则就会将自己的用户拱手让给竞争者。”

Didi will not disclose its financial losses but it said it was spending less on subsidies than Uber and was breaking even in more than half of the 400 cities it operated in. “Investors wouldn’t have shown such support had we not shown them a clear path towards profitability,” she said.

滴滴不会披露其财务亏损，但是一名发言人称，它在补贴上的花费少于优步，同时其运营的400个城市中超过半数实现了收支平衡。“如果我们没有给投资者呈现出一条明确的盈利路线的话，他们是不会表现出如此支持的，”她表示。

As for how Apple’s money will be spent, she added: “All investments are going to be focused in product and tech innovations as we see more and more cities pass the break-even point.”

至于苹果的钱将如何花费，她补充称：“随着我们看到越来越多的城市实现收支平衡，所有投资将集中用于产品和科技创新。”