Ofo cranks up the heat with BeiDou locks for its bikes

Chinese bike-sharing startup ofo Inc will equip its bicycles with BeiDou-enabled smart locks, as part of its efforts to leverage the nation's homegrown BeiDou navigation satellite system to offer better-positioning services.

Ofo signed a deal on Thursday with a local company - ChinaLbs International BV - which will see its bikes in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province become the first to have BeiDou-enabled smart locks.

Ofo CEO Dai Wei said: "The BeiDou locks are tailor-made for bicycles in the sharing-economy sector, which can help users better locate bikes in remote areas and boost operating efficiency."