China's Mobike, Japan's Line announce strategic partnership

Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike Technology Co., Ltd. and Japan's leading social messaging platform Line Corp. announced Wednesday to set up a strategic partnership.

Under the partnership, Tokyo-listed Line is to make an investment into Mobike's Japanese subsidiary and to get less than 20 percent of the stakes of Mobike Japan.

The deal will also allow Line's 71 million users to have access to Mobike's bike-sharing services by scanning the QR code on the bikes with their Line app, and paying the fees with their Line Pay account.

Takeshi Idezawa, president and CEO of Line, said at a joint press conference that bike-sharing services have caught a lot of attention recently in Japan and Line is hoping to make life of its clients more convenient through cooperation with Mobike.

Line will also support Mobike's development in Japan through Line's network with local governments and private companies, he said.

Hu Weiwei, founder and president of Mobike, said that through partnering with Line, Mobike will provide tens of millions of Line users with more convenient services for finding, unlocking and paying for bikes.

After huge success in the domestic market, Chinese bike-sharing companies are accelerating their steps into the global market.

Mobike Japan has launched bike-sharing service in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in August.