China’s once trademark bicycle fleets were in steep decline at the beginning of the new millennium, but major cities are witnessing a resurgence thanks to smartphone technology. Rental bikes are sweeping the country and roughly 30 companies have been competing for market share since early 2016. It is expected that nearly 30 million new bikes will be put onto the streets for rent this year against the backdrop of total bike output nationwide hitting 53 million in 2016. The wild growth, however, has raised questions about bike-sharing companies’ profits as most of them are heavily dependent on investors for start-up cash. In addition, the growing number of bikes have clogged sidewalks and traffic. Some industry analysts have also called on supervisors to closely scrutinize bike-sharing firms’ use of deposit money collected from riders.
Old Version
