Master’s Degree programme in Languages, Economics and Institutions of Asia and North Africa Second Cycle (D.M. 270/2004) Final Thesis Chinese dock-less bike-sharing model The market situation and underlying implications Supervisor Ch. Prof. Renzo Riccardo Cavalieri Assistant Supervisor Ch. Prof. Lala Hu Graduand Anna Zhu Matriculation Number 846501 Academic Year 2017 / 2018 SUMMARY 前言 ................................................................................................................................................................. 4 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 8 CHAPTER 1 – BIKE-SHARING: HISTORY AND THE MARKET .............................................................................. 11 1.1 BIKE-SHARING: DEFINITION AND TERMINOLOGY ...................................................................................................... 11 1.1.1 Bike-sharing: four generations history and characteristics ................................................................. 13 1.1.2 Bike-sharing schemes features ............................................................................................................ 29 1.1.3 Business models ................................................................................................................................... 32 1.1.4 Bike-sharing schemes operations ........................................................................................................ 36 1.1.5 Bike-sharing adoption .......................................................................................................................... 39 1.2 THE MARKET CHARACTERISTICS ........................................................................................................................... 47 1.2.1 The sharing economy ........................................................................................................................... 47 1.2.2 Bike-sharing and other shared mobility models .................................................................................. 51 CHAPTER 2 – BIKE-SHARING IN CHINA ............................................................................................................ 56 2.1 CHINESE BICYCLE HISTORY AND THE PUBLIC BIKE-SHARING ........................................................................................ 56 2.1.1 Bicycles development in china ............................................................................................................. 57 2.1.2 Institutional framework and policies ................................................................................................... 59 2.2 THE DOCK-LESS BIKE-SHARING SYSTEM ................................................................................................................. 65 2.2.1 Terminology and definition: public bike-sharing vs. dock-less bike-sharing ........................................ 67 2.2.2 The Chinese dock-less bike-sharing model ........................................................................................... 68 2.2.3 Phase 1: the birth of the bike-sharing startups and rapid growth ....................................................... 70 2.2.4 Phase 2: chinese bike-sharing market saturation and difficulties ....................................................... 76 2.2.5 Chinese style bike-sharing outside mainland China ............................................................................. 93 2.2.6 The current situation and future prospects ....................................................................................... 106 2.3 DOCK-LESS BIKE-SHARING INDUSTRY: IMPACTS ASSESSMENT ................................................................................... 129 2.3.1 The cities ............................................................................................................................................ 129 2.3.2 The bicycle industry ............................................................................................................................ 132 2.3.3 The users ............................................................................................................................................ 136 2.3.4 The legislation and regulation ........................................................................................................... 138 CHAPTER 3 – DOCK-LESS BIKE-SHARING COMPANIES: SOME PROFILES ........................................................ 145 3.1 OFO ........................................................................................................................................................... 145 3.1.1 About the company ............................................................................................................................ 146 3.1.2 The service and products ................................................................................................................... 146 3.1.3 Major events and financial situation ................................................................................................. 148 3.2 MOBIKE ....................................................................................................................................................... 149 1 3.2.1 About the company ............................................................................................................................ 149 3.2.2 The service and products ................................................................................................................... 150 3.2.3 Major events and financial situation ................................................................................................. 151 3.3 HELLOBIKE / YOUON .................................................................................................................................... 152 3.3.1 YOUON .............................................................................................................................................. 152 3.3.2 Hellobike ............................................................................................................................................ 152 3.3.3 Major events and financial situation ................................................................................................. 154 3.4 BLUEGOGO ................................................................................................................................................... 155 3.4.1 About the company ............................................................................................................................ 155 3.4.2 The service and the product ............................................................................................................... 156 3.4.3 Major events and financial situation ................................................................................................. 157 3.5 OTHER CHINESE DOCK-LESS BIKE-SHARING BRANDS .............................................................................................. 157 3.5.1 UniBike ............................................................................................................................................... 157 3.5.2 U-bicycle............................................................................................................................................. 158 3.5.3 Ming Bike ........................................................................................................................................... 159 3.5.4 Wukong Bicycle .................................................................................................................................. 159 3.5.5 3Vbike ................................................................................................................................................ 160 3.5.6 Ding Ding Bike .................................................................................................................................... 161 3.5.7 Kuqi Bike ............................................................................................................................................ 162 3.5.8 Qingjie Bike ........................................................................................................................................ 164 3.6 GOBEE.BIKE .................................................................................................................................................. 165 3.6.1 About the company ........................................................................................................................... 165 3.6.2 The product and the service ............................................................................................................... 165 3.6.2 Major events ...................................................................................................................................... 166 3.7 OBIKE .......................................................................................................................................................... 166 3.7.1 About the company ........................................................................................................................... 166 3.7.2 The product and the service ..............................................................................................................