Beijing sees drop in number of shared bikes

BEIJING - The number of shared bikes in the Chinese capital has dropped by about 20 percent from a peak period last year, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

Now Beijing has 1.91 million bikes, down about 20 percent from a peak of 2.35 million in September, the commission said.

From January to June this year, Beijing's shared bikes posted 1.42 million users every day and nine shared bike operators clocked a total mileage of 400 million kilometers, it said.

Starting from September, Beijing introduced measures to take redundant shared bikes off the street and regulate the industry to restore traffic order.

The Beijing transport commission said no new bikes will be allowed on the street. Companies will be required to take damaged or idle bikes off the street regularly.

An online bike supervision platform is under construction and will be put to use by year end. The commission is also devising a regulation on supervising the services of bike operators.

China's bike-sharing market has grown rapidly over the past few years as part of a booming digital economy.