Beijing puts the brakes on shared bicycles

Rental bikes on the street. [Photo by Guo Yiming/China.org.cn]

The downtown area of Beijing has asked two bike sharing operators to limit their number of rental bicycles, and has specified locations where the parking of such bikes is to be forbidden, according to reports on Monday.

The Xicheng District of Beijing recently talked to Mobike and ofo, the two most popular bike-sharing start-ups in China, asking them to limit the number of their bikes in the district. The district authority also specified 10 streets where shared bikes are not allowed to be parked, including the famous Chang'an Avenue.

The latest move is apparently aimed at addressing the problems caused by the popularity of the shared bikes in China, which only hit the road less than a year ago. One common problem is the random parking of bicycles which often causes inconvenience to walkers-by.

Beijing's transportation authority is said to be researching potential parking sites for rental bicycles and is expected to issue management rules on the bikes this year.

Ofo announced today that its daily orders have reached 10 million, becoming the fourth internet company in China to reach that milestone.