Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi has denied a report that it’s considering going private to appease the country’s authorities.

Shares in DiDi (DIDI) spiked by around eight percent following the report from the Wall Street Journal as investors bet on a smoother ride for DiDi going forward.

DiDi, which is backed by Apple, has been targeted by Chinese authorities following its $4.4 billion listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Earlier this month, Chinese regulators forced Apple to remove DiDi from the App Store over alleged “serious violations in collecting personal information”. Other app stores operating in China have also been ordered not to serve DiDi’s app.

On Chinese social media platform Weibo, DiDi wrote: “The rumors about the privatisation of DiDi are untrue, and the company is currently actively cooperating with cybersecurity reviews.”

As of writing, shares in the company have dropped 6.8 percent from its post-WSJ report spike following DiDi’s denial.

On Thursday, a group of seven Republican senators called on the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) to launch an inquiry into Chinese firms listed in the US. The letter, addressed to the head of the SEC, cited losses occurred by investors in DiDi and similar firms.

Action by China against its national technology companies listed in the US has resulted in large slumps in their share prices. DiDi’s share price is down around 45 percent from when they were listed last month.

Earlier this month, one of DiDi’s main competitors, AutoX, announced “Gen5” of its fully-driverless robotaxis. Huawei, meanwhile, demoted its autonomous vehicle chief this week following comments that Tesla is “killing” people.

Want to find out more from executives and thought leaders in this space? Find out more about the Digital Twin World event, taking place on 8-9 September 2021, which will explore augmenting business outcomes in more depth and the industries that will benefit.