Regulations needed to promote bike-sharing industry

Bikes provided by Ofo, one of China's leading bike-sharing companies, are spotted lining up along the street in Beijing, March 7, 2016. [Photo: China Plus/Huang Yue]

During the ongoing two sessions, the booming bike-sharing industry in China has been a hot topic among NPC deputies, with some bike-sharing providers waiving their fees in Beijing for the duration of the political meetings.

CRI's reporter Huang Yue brings you more.

Just take out your mobile phone, open an app, and scan the QR code, and you've unlocked a stylish bike parked on the street and can enjoy your riding through the spring breeze.

Bike-sharing services seem to have become one of the hottest topics among China's NPC deputies this year, with some offering their bikes free in Beijing during the two sessions.

The boom in the industry shows no signs of abating. One of the industry's leading companies Ofo announced that it managed to raise 450 million US dollars earlier this month.

Wang Dan, analyst of Economist Intelligence Unit, said the industry, although facing saturation in first-tier cities, is still in a period of growth

"Generally, the whole industry is still in the rising period. With more and more companies entering this industry, competition is becoming increasingly fierce. However, China has large quantities of cities. It is almost saturated in the first-tier cities, but in the lower-tier cities, the bike-sharing service is in the ascendant."

Putting aside the momentum of rapid development, some problems involving bike-sharing services have emerged.

24-year-old Hu Wei is a postgraduate of Beijing Normal University. She is worried about the issue of parking.

"From my perspective, the biggest problem of the bike-sharing service is the lack of management. For example about the parking issues, there are no designated parking areas for these bikes, so users may park them in any area on the street. Although it seems to be convenient, it might take up the lanes for motor vehicles or side pavement. Besides, it will do harm to Beijing's city identity if all the bikes are parked in a mess."

In addition to the parking problems, the bikes also frequently suffer from vandalism, hoarding, damage and stealing.

An insider of the industry said bad behavior has become a barrier to the healthy development of the bike-sharing industry in China.

Earlier, in his first news conference, Chinese Minister of Transport, Li Xiaopeng, praised bike-sharing services in China, calling them an effective solution to the "last mile" problem for commuters.

During this year's two sessions, the Transport Minister also stressed that joint efforts are necessary for the better development of the industry.

"Bike-sharing is an innovation which we actively encourage and support. We encourage local governments to adjust the measures to the circumstances respectively and strengthen the management. We need joint efforts. First, governments should establish regulations. Second, the companies should observe the regulations and improve their services. Third, and also the most important, is that users should comply with social morality. I believe the bike-sharing industry will achieve better development and better serve the people with our joint efforts."

Han Zheng, Secretary of the Communist Party of China of Shanghai Municipal Committee, has also calls on coordinated regulations for the industry.

"First, I need to declare my attitude that I support the bike-sharing service. It has developed rapidly within a short period of time and enjoys tremendous popularity among the people. However, the problems that emerge from its development must be solved. It needs to be systemized and standardized and every user should regulate their own behavior to better use the sharing bikes."

NPC deputy Rui Yuehua has suggested that the government should take action to regulate capitals flow into the industry to maintain sharp vigilance to the financial risks that might emerge later.

How to encourage better behavior among users, remains a tricky problem to solve.

For CRI, this is Huang Yue.