Chinese regulators and several ministries have dispatched investigators to the premises of Didi, the "Chinese Uber" in Beijing's sights since its IPO on Wall Street, they announced on Friday.
The company, which dominates the car reservation market with driver (VTC) in its country, has been the target of an investigation since the beginning of the month in connection with its collection of private data.
By order of the authorities, the application can no longer be downloaded, a measure without consequence for Didi users who have already installed it on their phone.
These setbacks come after the raising at the end of June by Didi of 4.4 billion dollars (3.7 billion euros) when it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Five ministries involved in the investigation
Beijing seems to have toughened its tone on Friday.
In a joint statement, market and cyberspace regulators, as well as five ministries, announced that they would send teams to Didi headquarters to review security issues around personal data.
The Department of Public Security is on the list.
It is relatively uncommon for a tech giant to be the subject of an investigation involving so many ministries and institutions.
Beijing has long encouraged its companies to go global.
And many of them are raising funds in the United States to develop.
But in a context of growing rivalry with Washington, especially in the field of tech, Beijing now fears that crucial data accumulated by its giants is leaking abroad.
This is why China wants to tighten up the conditions for listing abroad for its companies, which are requested beforehand to be irreproachable in terms of cybersecurity.
Internet-related companies are particularly dynamic in China, where previously relatively lax data legislation, and the absence of foreign competitors, has allowed local giants to emerge.
But Beijing has shown more firmness in recent months and has launched proceedings against many companies, urged to "rectify" practices until then tolerated.
Last Friday, the Chinese cyberspace administration ordered the withdrawal of the download platforms of 25 applications belonging to Didi, due to "serious breaches" in terms of data.