On May 18, 2026，the international version of the DiDi app officially launched cross-border ride-hailing services，with the first batch covering 12 high-frequency cultural and tourism areas including Luoyang Old Town，Longmen Grottoes，and White Horse Temple，supporting interfaces in English，Japanese，and Korean as well as payment via overseas credit cards/e-wallets。The service requires all vehicles to be connected to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s ‘Tourist Passenger Transport Safety Supervision Platform’，and drivers must complete multilingual service training certification。Cultural and tourism operations，cross-border payments，local lifestyle service platforms，tourism transport regulation，and other related sub-sectors are worth watching——this move marks that the systematic compliance implementation of local mobility services for overseas users in cultural and tourism scenarios has entered the operational stage，rather than remaining only at the pilot or technical preparation level。

Event Overview

On May 18, 2026，DiDi announced that its international version of the app had officially launched cross-border ride-hailing services。The first batch of service areas covers 12 cultural and tourism hotspot areas within Luoyang City，Henan Province，including the Old Town area，Longmen Grottoes，and White Horse Temple。The service supports interfaces in English，Japanese，and Korean；payment methods support overseas credit cards and mainstream e-wallets；all operating vehicles are connected to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s ‘Tourist Passenger Transport Safety Supervision Platform’；drivers must pass multilingual service capability training and certification。No follow-up expansion plan for other cities，capacity scale，partner fleet entities，or specific regulatory data integration mechanisms has been announced yet。

Which sub-sectors will be affected

Cultural and tourism destination operating institutions

Cultural and tourism destination operating institutions（such as scenic area management committees，cultural tourism groups，and ancient city block management entities）will be directly affected。Because cross-border ride-hailing services need to achieve data interconnection with local cultural tourism regulatory platforms，and service routes are highly concentrated in core sightseeing areas，the relevant institutions need to coordinate work such as setting up pick-up and drop-off points，updating multilingual wayfinding signage，and preparing emergency response linkage mechanisms。The impact is mainly reflected in finer-grained tourist route management，higher standards for cross-language service response，and the extension of regulatory data reporting responsibilities to the interface layer of third-party mobility platforms。

Cross-border payment service providers

Cross-border payment service providers（including licensed payment institutions，localization partners for overseas wallets，and acquiring service providers）need to pay attention to the actual invocation path of overseas credit cards and e-wallets in this service。At present，it is clearly stated that “overseas credit card/e-wallet payment” is supported，but it has not been explained whether clearing is handled by domestic licensed institutions，whether foreign exchange settlement filing is involved，or whether it triggers the applicable clauses for cross-border scenarios under the Measures for the Administration of Online Payment Business of Non-bank Payment Institutions。The impact is mainly reflected in compliance adaptation pressure being brought forward——it is necessary to assess in advance the requirements for fund flow，information flow，and anti-money laundering data reporting interfaces without relying on the platform’s full disclosure of its technical architecture。

Local lifestyle service platforms

Local lifestyle service platforms（including map-based platforms，review platforms，and OTAs with extended mobility modules）will face challenges in service coordination and differentiated positioning。This time，the international version of DiDi has entered the market by using “high-frequency cultural and tourism areas” as the anchor point，essentially building a closed-loop mobility entry point under vertical scenarios。The impact is mainly reflected as follows：the traffic weight of existing ride-hailing entry points around scenic spots may decline；multilingual service capability is shifting from an optional feature to a key capability item；if a platform is not connected to the cultural tourism regulatory platform data system，it will be difficult to obtain the same level of priority in policy coordination。

Tourist passenger transport compliance service institutions

Tourist passenger transport compliance service institutions（including safety training providers，regulatory platform technical service providers，and vehicle dynamic monitoring system providers）now have more clearly defined business scenarios。Drivers must complete “multilingual service training certification”，and vehicles must be connected to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s regulatory platform，which means demand is rising for standardized compliance services targeting tourist charter vehicles and dedicated line transport capacity。The impact is mainly reflected in that training content needs to cover basic service language + cultural and tourism scenario response scripts + emergency communication procedures；regulatory platform integration is no longer limited to tour buses，but has already extended to ride-hailing transport units。

What should relevant enterprises or practitioners focus on，and how should they respond at present

Pay attention to the release of follow-up implementation rules by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and local transport authorities regarding ‘access to the regulatory platform’

At present，it is only confirmed that vehicles are “all connected” to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism platform，but the access level（provincial/city level），data field requirements，verification frequency，and handling methods for non-compliance have not been specified。Relevant enterprises should continue to track follow-up supporting documents from the Henan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and the Luoyang Municipal Bureau of Transport，especially whether this access requirement will be extended to similar service scenarios in other cultural tourism cities。

Pay attention to the actual coverage rate and payment refusal rate data of overseas payment methods in the Luoyang pilot

Although overseas credit card and e-wallet payments have been enabled，the payment success rate，supported currency range，party bearing the handling fees，and dispute resolution path have not been disclosed。Channel distributors and payment service providers should proactively collect real transaction samples from the first month，identify high-frequency reasons for payment refusal（such as CVC verification failure，address verification mismatch，and issuing bank policy restrictions），and avoid simply equating interface support with business availability。

Differentiate between the implementation gap of ‘multilingual interface’ and ‘multilingual service capability’

The app’s support for English/Japanese/Korean interfaces is a technical implementation，while drivers completing training certification is a human compliance matter。A lack of synchronization between the two may lead to breaks in the user experience。Cultural and tourism operating institutions and platform partners should establish a dual-track acceptance mechanism：not only checking the quality of interface localization，but also conducting sampling reviews of drivers’ actual response recordings and service records to prevent certification from becoming a mere formality。

Sort out in advance the qualification and system preparation checklist required for integration with local cultural tourism regulatory platforms

If an enterprise plans to replicate a similar model in other cities，it needs to confirm in advance：whether the local scheme mandatorily requires access to the same system；whether the existing vehicle dynamic monitoring system meets the data format requirements of the cultural tourism platform（such as GPS sampling frequency and status reporting fields）；and whether it is necessary to apply separately for filing as a cultural tourism sector operation。It is recommended to refer to the publicly available requirements in Luoyang and initiate an internal system compatibility pre-assessment。

Editorial Viewpoint / Industry Observation

Observably, this launch is less a standalone product upgrade and more a regulatory-operational alignment milestone: it reflects the maturation of inter-departmental coordination between transport authorities, cultural tourism regulators, and platform operators. Analysis shows the emphasis lies not on scale or speed, but on traceability (via mandatory platform integration) and service accountability (via certified driver training). It is currently better understood as a policy signal with immediate operational implications—not yet a scalable commercial model, but a benchmark for how cross-border mobility services must comply within designated cultural tourism zones. The industry needs sustained observation on whether this framework becomes a national template, or remains a localized experiment contingent on Luoyang’s pilot outcomes.

Conclusion：This event is not merely the launch of a technical service，but a substantive alignment between the cultural tourism regulatory system and the operating rules of mobility platforms。At present，it is more appropriate to understand it as a phased implementation of “compliance first，scenario-focused”——it has verified the feasibility of achieving end-to-end compliant mobility for overseas users within specific cultural tourism areas，but it has not yet formed a general model that can be rapidly replicated。The industry should rationally view its demonstration value，focusing on developments in three aspects：regulatory interface standards，the execution quality of multilingual service certification，and the actual availability of cross-border payments，rather than only paying attention to the number of covered areas or the types of interface languages。

Source notes：Official announcement from DiDi（May 18, 2026）；public functional description of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s ‘Tourist Passenger Transport Safety Supervision Platform’；information on the division of key cultural tourism areas on the official website of the Luoyang Municipal Bureau of Culture，Radio，Television and Tourism。Items requiring continued observation：the pace of subsequent city expansion，actual transaction data for overseas payments，and detailed assessment rules for drivers’ multilingual service certification。