E-Bike Rental in China
What a foreign visitor can legally ride, what the counter will ask for, and where the 25 km/h line falls.
The short version
- What is legal. An electric bicycle, 电动自行车, is a non-motor vehicle: design speed up to 25 km/h, rated motor up to 400 W, nominal battery up to 48 V, a local plate, no driving licence. The rider must be 16 or older.
- The line. Above 25 km/h it is a motorcycle. A moped of up to 50 km/h needs an F, E or D licence and a blue plate; a motorcycle above 50 km/h needs an E or D licence and a yellow plate. Both need compulsory motor insurance.
- Licences. An overseas licence cannot be used in China. A temporary driving permit, for temporary entrants, lasts three months for a short stay, and up to a year once the stay or residence passes three months. It can cover a motorcycle, including a rented Chinese one.
- Cost. Yangshuo 20 to 40 yuan a day, Dali 40 to 80, Sanya 30 to 60. One Shanghai rental listing advertises 49 a day, 199 a week or 499 a month with a 200 yuan deposit.
- Enforcement. 15 km/h is the ceiling in a bike lane, and Shanghai states the limit as 15 km/h without qualifying the lane. Helmets are required in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hebei, Beijing, Shenzhen and Shandong. In Shanghai and Beijing an adult passenger and a phone in hand are both out.
Four vehicles behind one sign
Rental signs on a Chinese street tend to say "electric bike". Three separate machines sit behind that phrase, and pedal bicycles are still rented alongside them. Of the three, only one is open to a visitor without paperwork.
| Vehicle | Top speed | Plate | Licence | In practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedal bicycle | n/a | n/a | n/a | A plain bicycle has been quoted in Dali at 20 yuan a day, against 40 to 80 for an e-bike; a mountain bike is 40. |
| Electric bicycle 电动自行车 |
Design speed up to 25 km/h 15 km/h ceiling in a bike lane Shanghai: 15 km/h, stated without qualifying the lane |
Local non-motor vehicle plate | None. Rider must be 16+ | The vehicle to rent. Some shops ask for a passport, and the cover is whatever they provide. |
| Electric moped 电动轻便摩托车 |
Up to 50 km/h | Blue motor vehicle plate | F, E or D, plus compulsory insurance | Cannot carry a passenger. |
| Electric motorcycle 电动摩托车 |
Above 50 km/h | Yellow motor vehicle plate | E or D, plus compulsory insurance | The fast scooter a shop may offer. Needs a temporary driving permit and a registered, insured bike. |
The three-class split, the 25 km/h and 50 km/h ceilings, the licence and plate each class needs, compulsory insurance and the ban on carrying a passenger on a moped come from a consumer warning by Rongxian's market regulator and material published by the Wuhai Hainan district procuratorate. The 400 W and 48 V figures are from Huainan's market regulator, which states them alongside the 25 km/h limit and the weight caps. None of this is quoted from the text of GB 17761-2024, which is cited on this page for the pedal rule and its 1 September 2025 start. Blue and yellow are the colours used for motorcycle plates.
Why the pedals no longer tell you anything
The old advice was simple: pedals mean e-bike, no pedals mean motorcycle. That advice died on 1 September 2025, when GB 17761-2024 dropped the requirement to fit pedals to every model. A vehicle without pedals can now be a legal electric bicycle.
Ask the shop two questions instead: what is the top speed, and where is the plate. A compliant electric bicycle is designed to a maximum of 25 km/h and carries a non-motor vehicle plate. If the answer to the first question is "much faster" and the second is a shrug, the machine is very likely a motorcycle, and if it carries no plate it should not be on the road at all.
Registration is not automatic. A published FAQ from Dongguan states that a two-wheeled vehicle without pedals is not an electric bicycle and will not be registered there, although GB 17761-2024 no longer requires pedals on every model. If you are buying rather than renting, check the local office before you pay.
What the counter will ask for
For an electric bicycle
- Passport. One English-language operator in Yangshuo asks for a photograph of the passport page. Carry it whatever the shop.
- Deposit. 100 to 500 yuan in the tourist towns priced below. The same Yangshuo operator takes 50 per cent of the bike's value in cash; Sanya shops set their own terms.
- Documents as security. A 2026 travel report from Dali describes shops holding an ID card instead of a deposit and advises paying cash rather than leaving a document.
- Age. The legal minimum is 16.
Before you ride off
- Photograph the bike, including scratches, the plate and the battery gauge.
- Test both brakes and the throttle cut-off. A bike that lurches when you push it has a modified controller.
- Check the plate is attached and legible. A plate in the shop's drawer is not a plate.
- Agree the return time and the late fee in writing, even if it is a WeChat message.
- Ask what the rental covers if you hit someone or come off.
What it costs, by destination
| Where | Typical rate | Deposit | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yangshuo, Guangxi | 20 to 40 yuan a day West Street shops quote 50 to 150 |
100 to 200 yuan | A 2026 travel report put anything above 50 yuan in overcharging territory. Compare range before price, and ask whether a second battery is available for longer runs. |
| Dali, Yunnan | 40 to 80 yuan a day 130 to 180 for a lake-range bike |
100 to 500 yuan | The Erhai loop runs 127 to 130 km, and lake-range bikes are quoted at 130 to 180 yuan a day. Charging has been quoted at roughly 10 yuan a time. |
| Sanya, Hainan | 30 to 60 yuan a day | Varies | Short hops between bays. |
| Shanghai | 49 yuan a day 199 yuan a week 499 yuan a month |
200 yuan | A rental listing on a supplier site rather than a shopfront. MUTE Garage, in the next section, lets by the month or week rather than the day. |
Rates are what operators and travel reports quoted in 2026. A plain e-bike and a lake-range bike are different products, so compare range before price.
One Shanghai operator we have vetted
This is the one Shanghai operator we know and have written about.
MUTE Garage, Jing'an
- What it is. MUTE describes its fleet as new-national-standard electric bicycles, let by the day, week or month from 425 Yanping Road, open Monday to Friday 10:00 to 18:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 16:00.
- Why it is worth naming. Customer service is multilingual and foreign passport registration is supported, including a digital copy of the passport page. That matters if you do not speak Chinese.
- What comes with the bike. A safety helmet, a raincoat, a charger and maintenance, and a test ride is offered. MUTE states that its fleet is insured, with support for non-intentional damage subject to the rental conditions, which are worth reading before you sign.
- What we still cannot check for you. Whether the bike you are handed is plated and what its design speed is. Ask both questions at the counter, as this page keeps saying.
What vetted means here is narrow: Eventurus knows this operator and has written about them, and every line above comes either from their published information or from our own article about them, rather than from an inspection of the bike you will be handed. Eventurus works with MUTE. There is no booking link on this page and no discount code to quote; the keyword below only gets you answers, not a reservation. Everything above about plates, helmets and speed applies to them as much as to any other shop.
Shared e-bikes, and where they are restricted
A 2017 ten-ministry policy on internet rental bicycles did not encourage shared e-bikes. A 2023 reply from Guangzhou's Panyu district named Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen as cities that had banned or discouraged the business, and said Guangzhou did not encourage it either. That is not the same as a simple ban: Beijing's 2026 regulation issues special plates to e-bikes used for internet rental.
Numbers are set city by city, and the sources are uneven. Nanning's municipal government says the city has five internet-rental bicycle companies and has summoned them for talks as part of a campaign against shared e-bikes. The rest comes from industry research rather than government notices: that research puts Changsha at eight licensed brands, with Hello, Meituan and Qingju at more than 100,000 vehicles each, records Kunming's 2026 review selecting three operators for the main urban area, and names Guiyang, Zunyi, Liupanshui and other places as having operations.
Whether a passport works in a given operator's app is worth testing before you rely on it, so keep a shop rental as the fallback.
The licence question, settled
"An overseas licence cannot be used in China, and a temporary driving permit must be obtained instead," the Shanghai public security bureau replied on 23 June 2025. An International Driving Permit does not change that.
The permit is designed for temporary entrants. It is issued to you, not to a vehicle, and under circular 公交管〔2019〕465号 it lets you drive a rented Chinese motorcycle as well as one you bring into the country. A short stay gets three months, and a stay or residence of more than three months gets up to a year. The circular asks for your travel document and your overseas licence. Shanghai's public security bureau asks for the travel document in full, which means the passport with a valid visa or residence permit, plus a Chinese translation of the licence, the application form and two one-inch photographs.
What the permit does not solve is supply. Before you pay for one, ask the shop whether the motorcycle you would ride is registered and carries the compulsory insurance that a motorcycle needs to be on the road at all. A permitted rider on an unregistered bike is still on an illegal bike.
The one question worth asking. "Is this bike plated, and is its design speed 25?" A shop that answers both without hesitating is a shop that expects to be checked.
The rules that actually get enforced
| Rule | Detail | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | National law caps an electric bicycle at 15 km/h in a non-motor vehicle lane. Shanghai's own guidance states the limit as 15 km/h without qualifying the lane. | 50 yuan reported where Shanghai cameras operate, on some stretches |
| Helmet | No national penalty; each province or city legislates. Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hebei require one, Beijing has since 1 May 2026, and Shenzhen and Shandong fine it. | Warning or 20 to 50 yuan in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang; Jiangsu 20 for a first offence and 50 for a second; Beijing warning or 10 to 50; Hebei warning or 10 to 50 where an order to correct goes unheeded; 200 in Shenzhen, on the rider; 20 in Shandong where a repeat offender refuses to correct it |
| Phone in hand | Holding a phone to call, or looking at a screen while riding, is a specific offence in Shanghai. Beijing bans it from 1 May 2026. | 30 yuan in Shanghai |
| Passenger | Shanghai allows one child aged 12 or younger, in a fixed seat if the child is 6 or younger. Beijing allows an adult driver to carry one child aged 16 or younger in the fixed seat behind the rider from 1 May 2026. No adults in either city. | Warning or 5 to 50 yuan in Shanghai |
| Where you can ride | Shanghai: bike lane, or the right-hand edge of the road where there is none, within 1.5 m of the edge line; no motorways, urban expressways (elevated roads included), river tunnels or river bridges. Beijing: no expressways, urban expressways or closed motor roads, and dismount to cross at pedestrian crossings, footbridges and underpasses. | Warning or 20 to 50 yuan in Shanghai |
| Drink | Riding an e-bike while drunk is prohibited under Article 72 of the road traffic implementation regulations, even though the vehicle is not a motor vehicle. | Warning or 5 to 50 yuan under Article 89 |
| Plate and modifications | Shanghai requires a registered plate, and bans adding batteries, motors or other power units, adding seats, umbrellas or canopies, and removing or altering the speed limiter. | 50 to 200 yuan in Shanghai for riding unplated or modified |
| Parking | Shanghai: use a marked non-motor vehicle bay. A bike left where it obstructs traffic can be cleared by the police with the city management department if the rider is not there. | Warning or 20 to 50 yuan in Shanghai |
Helmets, insurance and the morning after
China requires compulsory motor insurance for motorcycles. An electric bicycle is not a motor vehicle, so that requirement does not reach it, and Shanghai's regulation goes no further than encouraging third-party, personal accident and property cover. Ask what the rental includes and get the answer in a message rather than a nod.
If you hit a pedestrian, the claim sits between you, the other party and the police. Ride slowly, and treat 15 km/h as the number that matters rather than a technicality.
After a crash, three things count: the police report, the plate number and the rental contract. Call the shop before you move the bike, photograph everything, and do not agree a cash settlement at the scene without a police record.
Check your travel policy before you ride. A scooter above 25 km/h is a motor vehicle, and an International Driving Permit is not a Chinese licence. Whether your policy covers you on one without a Chinese permit is worth confirming in writing before you pay.
Charging and range
Ask what the battery actually does rather than what the sticker claims. A loop of 127 to 130 km such as Erhai needs a long-range bike or a charge stop. In Dali, charging has been quoted at about 10 yuan a time.
Charging in your room is the habit worth breaking before you arrive. Shanghai bans charging in the shared parts of a building, in escape routes and in the indoor areas of crowded places, and running a cable from a socket attracts a 50 to 200 yuan fine. Beijing bans taking an e-bike battery into a residential building from 1 May 2026. A battery fire is not a risk worth taking whatever the rule says about the room. Charge at the shop or at a public point.
If the police stop you
If you are stopped, carry your passport and the rental contract or a photograph of it. The plate identifies the vehicle, which usually settles the question of who it belongs to without a long conversation.
The penalties in the table above come from the sources at the foot of this page: local regulations for most rows, national law for the drink row, and a reported camera enforcement figure for speed. Several leave a warning or a fine to the officer's discretion. Ask for a receipt whatever is decided. If the bike turns out to be unplated in Shanghai, the 50 to 200 yuan fine lands on the rider, so check the plate at the counter and ask the shop to swap the bike before you set off.
Buying instead of renting
For a stay of months, price a purchase against a monthly rental, then look hard at registration. Guangzhou requires a foreign owner to produce a passport, a Chinese translation of it, the accommodation registration certificate issued by the police, and a visa or residence permit valid for three months or more, along with the purchase invoice, the conformity certificate and the vehicle itself. Other cities set their own lists. In Guangzhou that three-month visa or permit is the binding constraint.
The bike also has to qualify. From 1 December 2025 every electric bicycle sold in China has to meet GB 17761-2024. Separately, any electric bicycle sold new has to hold certification and carry the CCC mark on the body. Guangzhou's list requires the purchase invoice and the conformity certificate, which rules out a bike sold without papers. As above, city practice can differ from the national standard, so check the office before paying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where these figures come from
National standards and the Shanghai and Beijing regulations are read on the government sites that publish them. The three vehicle classes, their speed ceilings, licences, plates, compulsory insurance and the ban on carrying a passenger on a moped are quoted as a consumer warning from Rongxian's market regulator and material from the Wuhai Hainan district procuratorate summarised them; the 400 W and 48 V limits are from Huainan's market regulator. Neither is the text of GB 17761-2024, which is cited here for the pedal rule and its 1 September 2025 start. The 15 km/h lane ceiling is article 58, quoted in Shanghai newspaper reporting of November 2025.
Helmet penalties for Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hebei, Shandong and Shenzhen come from newspaper and state-media roundups of those rules rather than from the rule books themselves. The CCC requirement and the 1 December 2025 sale cut-off are from state media, and the 1 September 2025 implementation date from the government site that published the standard. Driving permits come from circular 公交管〔2019〕465号 and the Shanghai public security bureau's reply of 23 June 2025; the 16-year floor and the drunk-riding rule are article 72 of the implementation regulations, and the penalty attached to drunk riding is article 89 of the Road Traffic Safety Law. The 30 yuan phone fine and the 50 yuan speed-camera fine in Shanghai come from November 2025 reporting in Shangguan News and People's Daily Online's Shanghai channel rather than from the rule text, and the rules on carrying one child aged 12 or younger, in a fixed seat if the child is 6 or younger, with a warning or 5 to 50 yuan for breaching them, are quoted from the Shanghai government's March 2024 question-and-answer page on the regulation. The Guangzhou registration list is from traffic police guidance with a Nansha district guide published on a newspaper site.
Shared e-bike policy is from a 2017 ten-ministry guidance quoted in a 2023 Panyu district reply, from Nanning's municipal government and from industry reports for Changsha, Kunming and Guizhou; the Dongguan FAQ is the municipal government's own.
Rental terms are Cyclequest's published conditions and MUTE's own information. The Shanghai listing's 200 yuan deposit and the 49, 199 and 499 yuan rates rest on a single supplier page; other deposits and rates come from published travel reports and operator listings, including Ctrip, Qunar, Sina Travel, Toutiao, Wukong Zuche and a Yangshuo travel blog. The 10 yuan charge in Dali rests on one report, and the 127 to 130 km Erhai loop on two.