Fight by startups to be unicorn of emerging sector proving costly

Painting their bikes in highly conspicuous hues of yellow, orange or blue, China's 30-odd bike-sharing startups sport a parade of colorful branding and are striving to return the nation to its place of honor as the "kingdom of bicycles".

While bike-sharing is no rarity elsewhere in the world, the Chinese version gives wheels to the concept, with customers able to find a free bike anywhere in the city closest to you (located via GPS on an app) and leave them when they are finished in their journeys.