Mobike, one of China’s largest bike-sharing companies, will launch in Manchester and Salford, its first cities outside of Asia. The service is slated to arrive on June 29, the Beijing-headquartered company said, and will start with 1,000 bikes.
Mobike’s launch outside of Asia (it expanded into Singapore in March) heightens is competition with Ofo, another well-funded Chinese bike-sharing startup that is keen on international expansion. Ofo actually beat Mobike to England when it launched a pilot two months ago in Cambridge, but that was on a much smaller scale with just 20 bikes.