How is that a problem? They don't have IP protection on the idea. It's quite fair and lawful for another company to copy it. They still need to overcome network effects and actually implement it. As the article shows, this was hard.
The parent comment didn't say they did have IP protection, nor that it was unlawful.
They asked how a company can or should respond in order to compete effectively.
It's a huge problem for most any company anywhere: how to compete when your competition is able to effectively clone you (not to mention if they have other advantages you inherently can't match in the market in question).
Also, it is just Forbes' words that Didi "emulate Uber’s model whole cloth". Fortune has a different perspective "But Didi has some built-in competitive advantages, by virtue of the fact that it was in the market earlier and that it designed its business for the Chinese market, instead of trying to import a template perfected elsewhere." http://fortune.com/2015/09/30/will-china-be-ubers-waterloo/
The Fortune article gave more details about Didi's model.
GP specifically said "Typical Chinese approach". Contrast with what you said "It's a huge problem for most any company anywhere", which is more reasonable.
Additionally, while "it's a huge problem for most any company anywhere", if there were no competition, it would be a huge problem for society.
