Shenzhen has announced the allocation of 460,000 quotas to three shared bike operators, namely Meituan Bike, Hellobike and Qingju Bike, according to a public notice released on the official website of the Shenzhen Municipal Transport Bureau. Dapeng New District will host no more than 10,000 shared bikes, according to the transport bureau.

Meituan Bike, operated by Hanhai Information Technology Co. Ltd., secured the largest quota, with a total allocation of 184,500 shared bikes. Following closely, Guangzhou Anqi Science and Technology Co. Ltd., the operator of Qingju, obtained a quota of 148,500. Shanghai Hello Puhui Technology Co. Ltd., which operates Hellobike, received a quota of 117,000 shared bikes.

Under the new regulations, the three operators are allowed to initially release 80% of their allocated bike quotas. The remaining bikes will be introduced in two subsequent batches, depending upon an assessment of actual rider demand and operational performance.

To prevent over-saturation and congestion, the transport bureau has also implemented district-specific limits on the number of shared bikes. Bao’an and Longgang will accommodate a maximum of 100,900 and 94,300 bikes, respectively, while districts like Nanshan, Futian, and Longhua will each be allowed to accommodate a maximum of 50,000. Yantian and Dapeng will each host no more than 10,000 shared bikes.

In a report released on its official microblog this March, the transport bureau disclosed that the Shenzhen market boasted a total of 412,000 shared bikes by the end of last year.

Meituan Bike, formerly known as Mobike, is one of the first shared bike operators that started businesses in Shenzhen. Meituan-Dianping acquired Mobike in 2018.

Alibaba-backed Hellobike commenced its services in smaller Chinese cities and towns in 2016 before expanding into larger markets. Qingju, backed by Didi Chuxing, introduced the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System during the launch of its shared bike services in Shenzhen, later expanding its operations to cities including Beijing, Tianjin and Guangzhou.