Uber has revealed that is losing more than $1 billion a year in China, amid fierce competition from local ride-hailing rival Didi Kuaidi.
But chief executive Travis Kalanick insisted that Uber is in a better position than its Chinese rival because it is able to fund its losses, at least partly, by using profits from other countries.
"We're profitable in the USA, but we're losing over $1 billion a year in China," Mr Kalanick told Canadian technology news site Betakit. "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."
A spokesperson for Didi claimed that Mr Kalanick's comments on its financial performance were "outright untrue" and said its business had reached break-even in more than half of the 400 Chinese cities in which it operates.