China's bike sharing services help promote green travel overseas

Photo taken on November 20, 2017 shows shared bikes from China's bike sharing companies Mobike and ofo parked along Datun Road in Beijing. [Photo: VCG]

A new report indicates the global popularity of Chinese shared bikes is continuing to grow, helping to promote green travel around the world.

According to a report on the development of China's share bike services, ofo, one of China's largest shared bike companies, has entered over 250 cities across 20 countries.

More than 6 billion rides have been taken by 200 million ofo users. This has helped reduce carbon emissions by 3.24 million tons, and has helped reduce gasoline usage by around 920 million liters.

Recent figures also show that China's other bike sharing giant Mobike is operating over 8 million bikes in 200 cities across 12 countries.

Mobike won the UN Environment Program's 'Champions of the Earth' Award early in December for its revolution in urban mobility and contribution to low carbon transport.

Besides promoting green travel worldwide, the bike sharing industry is also helping to boost domestic employment: statistics show 100,000 people in China are employed in the bike sharing industry.

It has been suggested that China's bike sharing industry will enjoy continued long-term growth due to the strong backing of venture capital as well as strong market demand for share bike services.