China lifts ban on ride-hailing giant Didi's new user registration

China's ride hailing giant Didi Global said in a statement on Monday it would be allowed to resume new user registration, after a more than year-long ban that curbed its growth.

The company would take effective measures to ensure platform safety and data security, and safeguard national cyberspace security, it said in the statement.

Didi has been awaiting approval to resume new user registrations and downloads of its 25 banned apps in China as a key step to a return to normal business since its regulatory troubles started in mid-2021.

Chinese policymakers are seeking to restore private sector confidence and counting on the technology industry to help spur economic activity that has been ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Didi will need its ride-hailing and other apps to be back on domestic app stores to win new users, though the statement did not specifically mention it.