(Chinese Version)

　　Editor’s Note:

　　Online bike-sharing is certainly one of the most popular concepts in the Chinese internet circle right now. On a typical street in Beijing, you can easily see bikes from at least seven platforms, including Mobike, ofo, bluegogo, youan, coolqi, haidian brain power, etc.

　　This huge battle among various types of bike-sharing platform, coupled with issues such as operation cost, impact on traffic order, capital investment, government regulations, price battle, supply chain and launch scale, etc., can be as dazzling as different colors of these bikes. Nobody knows exactly how this battle is going to end. In TMTpost Photo Gallery 048, let’s have a look at this “dogfight” through the variety of bikes that appeared on Beijing streets almost overnight.

　　It was February 22nd, 2017. Dongzhimen, Beijing. The pedestrians hurried past a row of shared bicycles. According to third-party report, as of the end of 2016, the overall number of users on the Chinese online shared-bike market has reached 18.86 million, and this figure is expected to reach 50 million by the end of 2017. By the end of February 2017, over 200,000 shared bikes have already been launched simply in Beijing.

　　Founded in April 2016, Mobike has entered over twenty cities across China and has completed C and D round of financing within the first two months of 2017, raising over $300 million simply in the D round.

　　It was December 15th, 2016. Haidian District, Beijing. An ofo employee was ofo launching shared bikes on Beijing streets through an electric tricycle. Founded in college campuses at first, ofo decided to expand into cities in November 2016. As of February 2017, it is reported that ofo has covered 35 cities across China. On March 1st, ofo announced that it had completed D round of financing, raising $450 million in total.

　　On February 21st, bluegogo officially entered the dogfight in Beijing. According to bluegogo’s CEO, they had planned to enter the market as bike manufacturing contractors. However, after their understanding towards the market deepened, they decided to compete head-on with other online bike-sharing platforms.

　　The internet dogfight urges traditional urban public bike service providers to upgrade their service accordingly. At the beginning of February 2017, BeiJing Public Bicycle APP was launched, so that users, after real-name authentication, can rent bikes through Alibaba’s Ant Financial, Beijing Municipal Administration & Communication Card, or deposit, and that users whose Ant Financial credit point is over 600 can rent bikes without paying the deposit. By the end of 2016, Beijing Public Bicycle launched 68,000 bikes and set up 2,000 rent stations across Beijing. Statistics suggest that 97 per cent of BeiJing Public Bicycle’s users rent bikes for less than an hour each time, which means they can rent bikes for free.

　　After observing shared-bikes on Beijing streets for over two months, we find that ofo’s bikes, perhaps because they are cheaper, are damaged more often than Mobike’s. It was February 22nd, Yonghegong, Beijing. An ofo bike’s saddle was removed from the bike.

　　It was February 24th, 2017. Nearby Beijing-Baotou Railway, Beijing. An ofo bike whose inner tube had already been pulled out, was parked against the protection fence. It is obvious that the bike was maliciously sabotaged.

　　It was January 12th, 2017. An ofo whose rear wheel was perhaps rolled over by a car was parked on the roadside.

　　It was February 22nd, 2017. A hutong near Fuyou Street, Beijing. An ofo bike’s QR code and number plate were erased. There were at least five ofo bikes that were damaged this way nearby.

　　An ofo bike whose left pedal disappeared was parked on the ground nearby Chaoyang Joy City Mall, Beijing.

　　An ofo bike outside Gome First Residential Community was painted in gray. The number plate, the left pedal as well as the lock have all disappeared.

　　It was January 8th 2017. At ofo’s parking lot outside Chaoyang Joy City Mall, two ofo bikes’ saddles had been removed.

　　An ofo whose handlebar had been reversed was parked near a residential community near South Two Ring, Beijing. The chain was off, and the bike was locked with a new lock.