Didi Chuxing Technology Co., the largest ride-hailing company in China, has revealed that it is earning profits in more than half of the cities it is currently active in. The company is operating in about 400 cities in China.

Didi expects to achieve overall profitability in China "very soon."

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Speaking at the Converge Technology Conference hosted by The Wall Street Journal Zijian Li, Didi's senior director of International Strategy, said that the company is currently focusing on machine learning technology and big data.

"Now we have the ability [in some cities] to precisely predict 15 minutes in advance of the supply and demand mismatch in a certain area," he said.

Didi's biggest competitor is Uber, which recently raised $3.5 billion from Saudi Arabian investors. Didi also recently received $1 billion in funding from technology behemoth Apple. The company is looking to use the investment to upgrade its technology. Didi is being backed by other prominent companies such as Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Zijian said that Didi is not looking to expand directly to other countries. However, it is collaborating with other ride-sharing companies such as Lyft to provide a smooth experience to Chinese travelers when they are abroad.

Ride-sharing companies in China are likely to face challenging times later this year as the government seeks to introduce new regulations. Technically, private ride-sharing businesses in China are illegal. The country is likely to mandate these companies to obtain local licenses under proposed regulatory changes.

TagsDidi Chuxing, Alibaba, Uber