The bike-share concept has attracted huge venture capital as fledgling firms wrestle for market share.

Such has been the success of this made-in-China business model, which is using smartphones to reignite the nation’s passion for cycling, companies are drawing plans to export the idea worldwide.

“We are focused on how to make the small bicycle have a big impact,” said Davis Wang, CEO of Mobike, which launched last April in Shanghai and already has several hundred thousand of its silver-and-orange “smart” bikes in 13 Chinese cities.

Key rivals Mobike, Ofo and others are tapping into the “sharing economy” ethic behind Airbnb and ride-hailing apps such as Uber, and targeting China’s 700 million cell phone users, who increasingly use their smartphones for transactions.