Tidy parking key to shared bikes' expansion

China's phenomenal bike-sharing business is set to take a strategic twist at home. While Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike rolled out the first of 750 bikes in West London on Tuesday, Beijing's transportation management authorities have called a halt to such dock-less, hire-on-demand bikes in the city, where some 2.35 million "shared" bikes are being run by 15 companies.

Beijing is among the 12 cities that have suspended additions to the existing fleet of shared bikes - for obvious reasons. The capital now has one bike for every 14 residents, way more than what it needs to promote green public transportation. With more public places and private residences building up fences to keep chaotic parking at bay, shared bikes, hailed as a "last-mile" solution, are often seen piled up on pavements even near bus stops.

Having survived the "retaliatory" attacks by drivers of motor tricycles, a once-popular yet illegal last-mile choice carrying commuters to the nearest bus stops or subway stations, shared bikes now face another moment of truth. By the end of July, 70 bike-sharing companies had rolled out a total of 16 million bikes to serve the more than 130 million registered users, according to the Ministry of Transport. This means the promises of the bike-sharing companies to fix what is wrong - from pavement clutter to oversupply - may go unfulfilled.