Uber has revealed it is burning through more than $2.7m (£1.8m) every day in China as it wages a fierce price war against its local rivals.
The Google-backed ride-hailing firm is losing more than a billion dollars a year in China but is still valued at $8bn in the country.
Intense competition means that it is important for the company to battle for market share, even if it means losing money.Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick said: "We're profitable in the USA, but we're losing over $1bn a year in China.
"We have a fierce competitor that's unprofitable in every city they exist in, but they're buying up market share. I wish the world wasn't that way."
Uber's main rival in China is a company called Didi Kuaidi, which is backed by Chinese technology giants Tencent and Alibaba.They have both spent heavily to subsidise fares and gain market share.A spokesman for Didi Kuaidi said that Uber's claims about its spending were false and that it is benefiting from its larger size.
He said: "Smaller competitors have to bleed subsidies to make up for their insufficient driver and rider network."
He added that the Chinese company now operates in 400 cities and had passed break-even point in half of those cities.
In January Mr Kalanick said that spending on such pricing strategies is "how you win" in China.
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