Five bike-rental firms made it clear that users can get back their in-app balance, following their statement weeks ago that bike-rental deposits are secure and are totally refundable, local media is reporting. Bike-rental firms including Mobike, ofo, Bluegogo, and UniBike made the statement at a conference hosted in Beijing yesterday by the China Consumers Association […]
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Apple CEO visits Chinese startups Ofo and Keep
In his recent visit to China’s capital, Apple CEO Tim Cook went to bike-rental company ofo’s offices on Tuesday, fueling speculation about whether the American technology giant may invest in the Chinese bike-rental startup, our sister site TechNode Chinese is reporting (in Chinese). Accompanied by ofo CEO Dai Wei, Cook visited the startup’s headquarters in Beijing […]
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[Podcast] China Tech Weekly March 19: Airbnb inches closer to the Chinese market?
Editor’s note: This originally appeared on China Tech Insights, an English research unit affiliated to Tecnent’s Online Media Group. In this week’s episode: Listen to the episode here or subscribe. Chinese companies made their debut at this year’s SXSW. Heated bike-sharing venture Mobike, China’s Quora-equivalent Zhihu, among others, shared their view on how Chinese technology is […]
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And the ChinaBang 2017 Awards go to …
It’s that time of the year again: the festive weekend for Chinese techies, startup entrepreneurs and investors alike. ChinaBang Awards, an annual ceremony recognizing the best startups in China, is on the go. To continue last year’s initiative in finding out the amazing startups nationwide- not just 1st tier cities, this year’s ChinaBang Award ceremony […]
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[Podcast] Analyse Asia 170: Bicycle Sharing in China with Eva Xiao
Editor’s note: This originally appeared on Analyse Asia, a weekly podcast hosted by Bernard Leong, dedicated to dissecting the pulse of business, technology, and media in Asia. The podcast features guests from Asia’s vibrant tech community. Eva Xiao from Tech in Asia joined us in a conversation about the exciting phenomenon of bicycle sharing startups happening […]
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Ofo announces deposit free rides for users with good Sesame Credit score
Chinese bike-rental company Ofo announced on Thursday (in Chinese) a strategic cooperation deal with Sesame Credit, a social credit scoring system developed by Ant Financial Services Group. Ant Financial is a subsidiary of Alibaba and operator of Alipay and other Alibaba-backed financial services. Under the deal, new Ofo users with a Sesame Credit score of 650 […]
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Shanghai mulling bike-rental regulations
Shanghai is mulling rules to regulate the sizzling yet reckless development of the city’s bike-rental sector, local media is reporting (in Chinese). The new rules, expected to be introduced in May and come into effect in June or July this year, are the latest government efforts to deal with the growing problems emerging with the bike-rental […]
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[Updated] The bike-rental war is creating unsustainable demand for bikes
China’s booming bike-sharing business has been disrupting the country’s traditional bike industry landscape, while also being acclaimed by city travelers for playing its part in cracking the hard nut of the last kilometer of their journey. After receiving multi-billion RMB investments from 30-some institutional investors, major bike-sharing services Mobike, Ofo, and their competitors have been […]
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Beijing orders halt to electric bicycle-sharing service E-zebra
Beijing authorities recently ordered a halt to electric bicycle-sharing service E-zebra (in Chinese), citing safety and legitimacy concerns. In addition, users of the service were first notified yesterday (March 7, 2017) and then again today about an interruption in service due to maintenance. Customer service representatives have not able to confirm when the service will be back […]
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Ofo becomes first bike-rental unicorn after US$ 450 million series D
Chinese bike-sharing firm Ofo announced today that it has secured US$ 450 million (around RMB 3.1 billion) in its Series D financing, a move that is heating up the already cut-throat competition in this nascent market, our sister site TechNode Chinese is reporting. The round is led by Moscow-headquartered DST, and other investors in this […]