BEIJING, Feb. 15  -- After a year of bitter rivalry, a merger between two Chinese major taxi hailing apps on Valentine's Day was the day's biggest surprise.

Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, both start ups, announced that they would put their differences aside and explore the sector together.

Didi CEO Cheng Wei said the deal was the largest merger in China's internet history and the combined entity would find its way on to the list of the top 10 Chinese Internet-based companies.

The newly founded company, which is yet to announce its official name, has been valued at 6 billion U.S. dollars.