(Yicai Global) May 15 -- Chinese online car-hailing giant Didi Chuxing Technology has started replacing Bluegogo shared bikes in the capital Beijing with its Qingju-branded two-wheelers. Didi took over Bluegogo in January last year.

Beijing-based Didi has reached a deal with local authorities to replace 10,000 older Bluegogo models with Qingju bikes, tech news outlet 36Kr reported. The first batch of 3,000 has been put in place in Zhongguancun tech park, known as China's Silicon Valley. 

Beijing is home to hundreds of thousands of Bluegogo bikes and many are close to scrapping condition so they will soon be replaced, an insider said. 

Qingju bikes made their debut in Chengdu, capital of western Sichuan province, at the start of last year. However, the brand did not gain much traction as many urban markets were already saturated. Authorities in the first-tier cities of Shenzhen and Shanghai warned bike-sharers against putting any new bikes into circulation illegally in 2018. 

Didi has accelerated the production of Qingju Bikes since last year with the aim of adding two million bikes in first and second-tier hubs, said a source at the firm's bike supplier Fuji-Ta Bicycle.

Editor: William Clegg