S China's Nanning halts shared electric bikes

NANNING - South China's Nanning has joined a growing number of other cities to ban the use of shared electric bikes.

Authorities in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, banned fledging electric bike sharing businesses in a statement issued last week, citing safety and regulatory concerns.

"Electric bikes, which are heavy and fast, will cause great damage and economic loss when accidents happen," said an official with the city's transport department.

Officials with the department added that many of the city's electric bikes were unlicensed, and their users often violated traffic rules.

Nanning, a city of about 7 million residents, has more than 2 million registered electric bikes. Local regulations have banned electric bikes, motorcycles, and tricycles from being used to transport passengers for a fare.

Chinese cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou and Xi'an have issued guidelines to halt shared electric bikes, in an effort to regulate the booming bike-sharing industry.

China now has around 70 bike-sharing brands, with more than 16 million bicycles on the streets nationwide and 130 million users, according to the Ministry of Transport.