(Yicai Global) Nov. 27 -- Bayerische Motoren Werke AG [XETRA:BMW] (BMW) will start operations of its permanent electric car-sharing service ReachNow in Chengdu and cities in southwestern China in December, Jiemian News reported on Saturday.

The firm held a pilot project in Beijing earlier in the year for the service, which utilizes BMW i3 electric cars.

ReachNow is a good way for BMW to expand business in China and addresses the country's restrictions on private car sales introduced in response to traffic congestion and air pollution.

DriveNow, a similar European-operated service undertaken in conjunction with car rental company Sixt SE [ETR:SIX2], now has more than one million registered users in the continent, up from 500,000 registered users in 2015, BMW said.