On 1 August, Didi Chuxing announced a strategic agreement with Uber in which Didi Chuxing will acquire and merge with Uber China. However, two days before the strategic partnership was revealed, Uber Nanjing held its first anniversary celebration and disclosed its remarkable achievements over the past year. At the same time, it grandly presented Nanjing’s first “Uber Important Person” (UIP) certificate to Yue Lei, Senior Vice President of Sanpower Group. As Uber’s Chinese business has been acquired by Didi Chuxing, the first anniversary celebration will go down in history and Nanjing’s first UIP will also become the last UIP issued by Uber China.

UIP is Uber’s privilege program for passengers and UIP members can enjoy a higher quality and richer riding experience. The reason Yue Lei was chosen as an UIP has something to do with his multiple identities. As the Senior Vice President of Sanpower Group, Yue Lei is also the first Chinese ambassador of United for Wildlife (UFW) and a member of the All-China Youth Federation. The green public endeavours he promotes match the spirit of “green commuting” that Uber advocates.

Take Yue Lei’s role as the ambassador of UFW as an example. The UFW organization is made up of the UK Royal Foundation and seven most influential environmental protection agencies in the world, with the aim of combating the worldwide illegal hunting of wild animals, calling on people to protect wild animals to create a green world together. Uber is committed to reducing urban carbon emissions through car sharing, in line with the public interest for environmental protection. It can be said that the two work together to protect the earth.

As a UIP, Yue Lei also gave a thumb up to Uber’s remarkable achievements. In his speech, he analysed reasons for its success from three dimensions: “good timing, geographic convenience and good human relations”. He believed that Uber, as a new industry model, alleviates mass transportation issues and meets the inherent requirements for supply-side structural reform. Once the government issues documents legalizing online car-hailing services, the online car-hailing industry, as epitomized by Uber, will see a huge opening up and golden period of development in China.

After the celebration, Yue Lei was interviewed by a number of mainstream media in Jiangsu. Yue said Sanpower Group would seek cooperation with Uber in two areas: commercial resource sharing and exchanges, and public welfare and charity. The two sides would share commercial customer resources and explore new models for urban services as part of an “Internet +” model. At the same time, they would focus on green commuting, wild animal protection and other issues to construct a deeply connected and friendly society, and to develop the green economy.