Sharing Economy Sees Rapid Growth in China

[Shotgunner51]

Mobike, the world’s largest platform for smart bike sharing, pedals into Europe
Digital Trends June 12, 2017

Mobike will become available to commuters in Manchester and Salford on June 29. The easy-to-use platform simply requires bicyclists to download the Mobike app, find a nearby Mobike, and scan its QR code. This automatically unlocks the bike, and from there, they’ll be able to take the bike for a spin around their city.

The bikes feature chainless shaft transmission, non-puncture airless tires, a lightweight aluminium anti-rust frame, enhanced and durable disk-brakes, and an auto-inspired five-spoke wheel. Since launching in Shanghai in April 2016, the company has expanded its services to 100 cities around Asia, and now Europe, too. Last year, Mobike estimates that it reduced CO2 emissions by more than 610,000 tons, thanks to the 2.5 billion kilometers biked by its users.

Hoping to provide an affordable, environmentally friendly, and socially beneficial transportation method for commuters everywhere, Mobike is one of the more tech-forward bike- sharing platforms out there. Each of the bikes in the network is outfitted with smart-lock technology and built-in GPS connected by way of the Mobike Internet of Things network. That means that Mobike is capable of locating and monitoring the health of its entire fleet, and can also keep tabs on location-based demand so it can send more bikes to areas where they’re needed most.

Mobike uses its GPS technology not only allocate its bikes across the city based on traffic and weather conditions, but also to support city planners, local businesses, and urban planning projects.

About 1,000 bikes will be made available with Mobike’s initial U.K. launch, though this figure is expected to increase as demand grows.

As Steve Pyer, general manager of Mobike U.K., notes, “Our aim is to be responsible, sustainable and innovative. We’re confident that Manchester and Salford and their residents will immediately see the benefits of our services, and the city will become a showcase for the urban transformation that is possible when cycling usage rises, and city planning leverages smart data.”

He continued, “We are already in talks with a number of other cities around Europe, and are sure the successful pilot will be the first of many partnerships, allowing us to make cycling the most convenient and affordable choice for those in cities all around Europe.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mobike-world-largest-platform-smart-192014747.html

 

[TaiShang]

Ponycar to expand fleet rapidly
By Zhou Mo | China Daily | Updated: 2017-06-16

An electric vehicle, made by Zhidou Electric Vehicle Sales Co Ltd, attracts attention from car buyers during an EV sales promotion event in Wuhan, Hubei province. [Photo/China Daily]

Car-sharing platform to launch 10,000 EVs in first-tier cities

Car-sharing platform Ponycar said it plans to launch up to 10,000 electric vehicles in China's first-tier cities within a year, as it ramps up efforts to compete for supremacy in the booming sector.

The Shenzhen-based company has already been offering services in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, with a total of over 2,000 EVs, mostly supplied by Zhidou Electric Vehicle Sales Co Ltd and BAIC Motor Corporation Ltd.

"We are going to put 8,000 to 10,000 EVs on the road in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen within a year and to march into second-tier and third-tier cities in Fujian, Sichuan, Shandong and other provinces in the coming months," Liu Yixun, founder of the company, told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

He said Ponycar has so far established a partnership with more than 200 sites in Shenzhen for users to pick up and return the cars and the number is going to reach 600 sites in the coming two months.

"Charging is not a difficulty as we charge the cars together in major cooperative sites with sufficient charging facilities at night to ensure that they can run 160 to 180 kilometers every day," Liu said, adding that average daily revenue of each EV has reached 180 yuan ($26.49).

Ponycar's move comes as its rivals, including Gofun Chuxing and EVCARD, are competing to gain a bigger market share in the burgeoning sector.

Gofun Chuxing, launched by State-owned Beijing Shouqi Group, is currently operating in a number of key cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The company said earlier it will expand its presence to 20 cities, with more than 15,000 EVs, by the end of this year.

Following the explosion in bike-sharing services, the car-sharing sector is growing fast in cities across China, especially in first-tier cities where many people are not qualified to buy cars because they do not have quota for getting a car license plate.

"With the government's firm support in promoting car sharing and people's growing recognition of the sharing economy, Chinese car-sharing market is expected to see rapid growth in the coming year," Liu said.

Zhang Xu, an analyst at Beijing-based consultancy Analysys, said the two major challenges facing car-sharing companies were capital and a lack of parking resources.

"Many companies are not able to get enough funding for expansion," Zhang said.

"Meanwhile, they have to rent a large number of parking spaces, which is a big cost for companies."

He added, however, that he had high expectations for the future development of the industry.

"The car-sharing industry will see robust growth once investors see its potential and capital pours into the market."

 

[cirr]

Chinese Bike-share culture set to roll into Sydney

2017-06-19 14:22

XinhuaEditor: Gu Liping

Sydneysiders are getting ready to say goodbye to their transport woes next month, when the harbour city's first dockless bike-share venture is set to launch.

ReddyGo, a Sydney venture backed by China's Bluegogo, will bring thousands of bikes over the coming months that can be unlocked by users with a smartphone app and cost 1.99 Australian dollars (1.48 U.S. dollars) for 30 minutes.

"Dockless bike share has the potential to transform travel in our city," a ReddyGo spokesperson told Fairfax Media.

"The first 160 bikes will ship from China on Monday, but the plan is to put 6000 bikes on greater Sydney's streets within six months."

Founder Donald Tang, who has lived in Sydney for 12 years, came up with the idea after the frustration of continually being late, the University of Technology Sydney graduate said.

Inspired by a former classmate back in Anhui province, who was listed by Forbes Magazine's as one of China's "elite entrepreneurs under 30."

ReddyGo bikes will be supplied by Binsen Tang's Bluegogo, which is China's third largest bike-sharing business.

His company Elex-Tech, a mobile gaming venture with has 50 million users, will also be involved in building the app for ReddyGo.

But like China, where competition is fierce, the Australian market may also quickly begin to heat up.

In the city of Melbourne a company called Obike is already in operation and during September, Sydney University will launch a rival bike-share scheme called Airbike.

Another potential problem for the Virgining two-wheel venture, is that unlike China, Australia have strict helmet laws.

This means ReddyGo bikes will come with a helmet and could easily become a target of thieves.

But the Sydneysider believes he may have already solved that problem, "we will be happy if any user steals them, because there is a big logo on those helmets... it will be free marketing," Tang said.

http://www.ecns.cn/2017/06-19/262025.shtml

 

[TaiShang]

First listed bike-sharing company pedals to victory

China Daily, August 18, 2017

Changzhou Youon Public Bicycle System, the nation's first listed bike-sharing company, sprinted ahead and took line honors in its first trading day in Shanghai on Thursday.

Parked Youon shared bikes on a street in Luoyang, Henan province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with an issue price of 26.85 yuan ($4) per share, Changzhou Youon started trading at 32.22 yuan per share on Thursday, and halted trading for the price instantly reached 38.66 yuan, which exceeded the daily price increase limit of 10 percent.

Based on its closing price, Youon's market capitalization was 3.7 billion yuan on day one. Sun Jisheng, founder of Youon who holds 35.72 percent of the company, saw his personal wealth swell to 1.3 billion yuan.

However, Thursday's good fortune still does not qualify him to enter the benchmark Hurun Rich List, which monitors the ups and downs of Chinese billionaires. The threshold for last year's list was 2 billion yuan.

Zhang Xu, a senior analyst at Beijing-based internet consultancy Analysys, said the surge of Youon on its first trading day may not reflect investors' confidence in its business model－but rather a common phenomenon for most of the companies newly listed on China's A-shares market.

Founded in 2010, Youon has attracted 20 million users nationwide and has rolled out 890,000 public bikes in over 210 Chinese cities and counties.

Unlike its better-known rivals Ofo and Mobike, which provide dockless bikes with smart locks, Youon specializes in public bikes with fixed locking poles and designated parking lots, most of which are operated in cooperation with local governments. Also, Youon has reported profit for three consecutive years since 2014, while the other two are still waiting to go into the black.

According to its half-year results to June 30, released on Wednesday, the company posted sales of 474 million yuan, up 43.46 percent year-on-year. Net profit rose 20.99 percent to 61.36 million yuan.

First-half net cash flow soared 105 percent year-on-year. The group said the surge was partly driven by its rising business in dockless bike sharing services.

Youon debuted in the dockless bike sharing sector in November last year, putting out 50,000 bikes in cities including Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu. According to its prospectus, this sector only took up 0.05 percent of its income in 2016. The bulk of its earnings then remained with docked bicycles.

Analysys analyst Zhang predicted the business model of public bikes with locking poles will eventually be replaced by dockless bikes, because the former lacked competitiveness in technology and user experience.

"Youon is now taking the lead, mainly in the lower-tier cities where industry leaders such as Ofo and Mobike have not yet entered," he said.