Employees of Beijing Mobike Technology Co ride the Mobike Lite, the latest addition to the company's bike-sharing services, in the Haidian district of Beijing. [Photo by ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY]

Greener travel

As economies develop, pollution levels rise and competition for road space between different types of transportation becomes fierce, meaning more effective, greener modes of transportation are required, according to Zhu Dajian, a professor at the School of Economics and Management at Tongji University in Shanghai.

In a bike-sharing study published in April last year, Roland Berger, an international business consultancy, concluded: "Bike sharing is predicted to grow at a very fast pace, opening up to its users a new means of urban transportation."

According to the study, by December 2013, about 640 bike-sharing programs, with more than 640,000 bikes, were already in operation worldwide, and the market is expected to grow by 20 percent every year. By 2020, the global market could be worth as much as $5.8 billion.

"The Mobike model is not a result of rational planning by the government, but a product of the innovative private sector," said Gao Fan, an associate professor of economics at Fudan University in Shanghai.

Profit is the key for private companies to produce public-oriented products. If innovation brings profits, the private sector will provide goods and services the public wants, according to Gao.

"Mobike spotted the market's weakness and entered it to solve a problem the government had failed to overcome. The new model focuses on exploring the potential market and it values innovation in all aspects," he said.

Zhu, from Tongji University, said: "Mobike's model upgrades the technological and business models simultaneously to develop China's on-demand economy. It has created a model of free-floating parking with flexible and convenient payment, supported by big data and technical innovation. It may even ignite a new wave of cycling in China."

Wang Zehua contributed to the story.