President of Uber rival: 'Competition makes you stronger'

In a nod to Uber, the president of Didi Chuxing, China's largest ride-share app, says that competition can be good for business.

"Competition makes you stronger," Jean Liu told CNBC. "We love competition. It makes you more focused."

Liu has become a star in the technology industry after growing Didi's global partnerships with ride-share service Lyft and working with Apple CEO Tim Cook to secure a $1 billion dollar investment from the company.

Didi Chuxing, which translates to "honk honk, commute," is reportedly valued at $28 billion — about half the size of $66 billion Uber, its biggest rival in China.

"When you have competition, you're in a hurdles game; you just need to focus," said Liu, who previously worked in investment banking for 12 years. "You don't keep looking back, looking aside — you move on. You just keep looking at where you want to go."

Liu once called Uber's negative campaign against Didi "cute."

Of course, running a global business requires having a thick skin.

"In the business world, there will be a lot of hiccups, professionally and personally," she said. "You need to have a strong heart to stomach everything."