An employee at DiDi Chuxing sprays disinfectant in a DiDi driver's car on March 13 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province. Photo: cnsphoto

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing on Wednesday denied speculation that it plans to launch an IPO, saying the online seller of what are suspected to be Didi shares has been unidentified.

Filing an IPO is not Didi's top priority at the moment and the company has no plans to do so, Didi Vice President Li Min wrote on his personal WeChat moments on Wednesday, media reported.

Li also warned investors to be cautious of selling Didi shares on online auction platforms, as the company's shareholder agreement strictly prohibits any private equity transactions.

Stakes in "the world's leading ride-hailing company" appeared on Alibaba's auction platform on Tuesday, set for online auction on July 29 with a starting price of 92 million yuan ($13.2 million). 

The auction page details that the company saw an average of 24.5 million rides per day in 2018, with 92.53 million active users, consistent with Didi's previously disclosed figures. Investors therefore believe the company in question is Didi Chuxing.

"The seller of what are suspected to be Didi shares on the online auction platform is unknown, and the shares cannot be identified as authentic. Please pay attention to the potential risks," said Li.

The Alibaba platform on Wednesday showed that the share auction has been withdrawn.