(Yicai Global) July 25 -- Toyota Motor today announced that it will invest USD600 million in Didi Chuxing, China's leading online car-hailing platform, to develop smart travel services, including setting up a joint venture to provide vehicle-related services for online car drivers.

The two sides will provide management, maintenance, insurance and financial services of vehicles for various customers and drivers in the Chinese market on the basis of Toyota's mobility service platform, the Japanese carmaker said, adding that they will also introduce pure electric vehicles that meet the demand of China's mobile travel services and push their popularity.

Didi Chuxing previously partnered with Toyota e-Palette last year to develop intelligent driving technologies, and operated a car rental service for ride-hailing drivers with some of Toyota's Chinese dealers.

In May, Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei reported that Toyota was considering offering JPY60 billion (USD550 million) to establish a new JV focusing on mobile travel services with Didi. In June and August last year, Toyota also invested USD1 billion in Singapore's transportation network firm Grab Holdings and USD500 million in Uber Technologies in the United States.

Didi Chuxing is seeking a new round of financing through an additional share issuance with the aim of raising USD2 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on July 17, citing an anonymous source, who claimed that Didi's valuation will reach USD62 billion after completion of the fundraising.