The bike rental war between Mobike and its rival ofo is still ongoing in China, with no end in sight. The pair has been waging an all-out war in terms of bike quantity and technology on and beyond their home turf. Now they set their sight on user experience. Mobike announced yesterday that it has […]
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Ofo vs Mobike: Northern vs Southern China expansion models
Next time when you meet a Chinese person, ask where they are from. The geographical boundary between northern China and southern China is not precisely defined, but there are rough and approximate stereotypes on Northerners and Southerners’ height, language, and what they eat. At the annual ChinaBang Awards this year, Grace Gu, principal at ZhenFund (backer of ofo), […]
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Didi continues pivot into two wheeled mobility with beta test of electric bike rental
Chinese ride-hailing behemoth Didi is beta-testing its electric bike rental service in South China, a person with knowledge of the matter told TechNode. Didi is said to have won the initial support of at least three cities. The firm is expected to develop its own bike rental brand, or potentially a separate app, with an access […]
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Didi app embeds ofo to provide flexible solution for short trips
After weeks of rumors, Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing announced today it has added bike-sharing service from ofo to its app. DiDi users will have direct access to ofo’s bright yellow bikes in the app. As a major investor of ofo, DiDi has poured a combined hundreds of million USD in three financing round of the […]
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Top 15 apps you need for living in China
Say goodbye to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and welcome your new favorite apps. Here is everything you will need to navigate your China life. 1. Communication: WeChat (微信) The app to rule them all, WeChat is the very definition of indispensable in China. This is where you will connect with your friends, communicate with your […]
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China Tech Talk 26: The Uber China Mafia with Chenyu Zheng
Some call Uber’s China foray a failure but looking at the DNA of the company, its values of radical ownership and operational focus have reshaped entrepreneurship in China. This week, Matt and John talk about the lasting impact Uber has had on the entrepreneurs and their startups since they exited China. Links Chenyu Zheng: Did Uber […]
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Are China’s bike-sharing platforms really part of the sharing economy?
China’s O2O market has seen quite a few companies doing interesting things, some succeeding, some failing. The latest hot vertical is bike-sharing. According to the China’s bike sharing industry mini-report by China Channel, Mobike (backed by Tencent and Foxconn) and Ofo (backed by Didi and Xiaomi) are clear market leaders amongst growing competitors. Founded in January 2015, the […]
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Updated: Cracks appear in DiDi and ofo partnership sparking doubts over ofo’s $700 million funding round
Insiders from ofo have confirmed to local media that ofo’s executive chairman, Chief Financial Officer, and other senior executives went on a “vacation” in July this year. A rift between ride-hailing giant DiDi and bike rental mammoth ofo might be the reason behind the event, Bianews has reported. ofo has since published a statement denying […]
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[Podcast] China Tech Weekly April 2: Tencent buys a 5% stake in Tesla
Editor’s note: This originally appeared on China Tech Insights, an English research unit affiliated to Tencent’s Online Media Group. This week: Baidu confronted with another executive departure Tencent expands investment in e-vehicles WeChat to push further into EU/US Didi considering 6B in new investment from SB Smaller Didi rival Shouqi considering new partnership Bike-sharing startups team […]
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Didi Bike operation was suspended for one day in Shenzhen
Chinese taxi hailing company Didi’s bike rental service, Didi Bike (青桔单车, meaning green tangerine bike in Chinese), was suspended for one day for not obeying the local law, Chinese media Shenzhen News is reporting. Bike rental companies hugely spread out last year, filling the Chinese streets with rental bikes. In order to manage rental bicycles, […]
