Chinese consumers also often order rides through other apps, like Baidu Maps or payments platform Alipay, according to a recent report from Bain & Company. Working with a popular app could give a new ride-hailing service an edge over established rivals.

There's a strong incentive to enter the Chinese market. Bain says it's worth $30 billion, more than the rest of the world combined, and predicts it could more than double in size by 2020.