China's online ride-hailing market expected to rebound by 2021: report

BEIJING - China's online ride-hailing market is expected to rebound in the next few years with modest growth as market players step up safety measures and improve services, an industrial report showed.

The Chinese on-demand mobility market is likely to expand less than 5 percent this year, slowing from a 25-percent growth in 2018, according to the APAC Mobility Report 2019 released Tuesday by global consultancy Bain & Company.

Bain expected the market's growth pace to pick up gradually to reach 10 percent to 15 percent in 2021, with the mobility market reaching about $60 billion.

Several online ride-hailing safety accidents last year have raised public concerns over service safety and led to tightening regulations in China.

Raymond Tsang, a Bain partner and report co-author, is upbeat about the growth and profitability prospects of the market in China and other Asian developing countries as consumer confidence gradually recovers and service quality improves.

Autonomous vehicles will be the biggest game changer for mobility in developing Asia. Companies can get into the game by forming smart partnerships, alliances and open platforms, the report showed.

The report suggested that companies could pursue growth opportunities in lower-tier cities. They could save costs by cutting passenger incentives and investing in electric vehicles, and boost revenues by delivering higher-priced services and developing a full platform of services.