Shenzhen Moves to Rein In Shared-Bike Services

Bicycle sharing is becoming increasingly popular in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, as a growing number of people use the rental bikes for short-distance travel. Photo: Visual China

(Beijing) — China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen has become the first city to lay ground rules for the raging bicycle-sharing business in an effort to keep in check careless parking and the number of vehicles, as well as to get a tighter rein on rental firms.

A draft rule issued by the Shenzhen government on Wednesday would require shared bikes to be parked in an orderly manner within designated zones or slots. It also stipulates that the number of bikes operating in the city must not “exceed transport capacities,” which could eventually mean a bike-sharing quota.