(Yicai Global) April 9 -- Hello Chuxing, a Chinese bike sharer backed by Alibaba Group Holdings, has joined a string of competitors hiking prices in the nation's capital as they look to make a move into the black.

The Shanghai-based firm will double its prices in Beijing to CNY1 (15 US cents) per 15 minutes instead of per half-hour starting April 15, it said in a statement. The company will also raise its monthly fee, which offers unlimited rides, to CNY14.9 from CNY11.9 in some regions.

Hello Chuxing is the third cycle sharer to announce price hikes in the capital behind Beijing Mobike Technology and Bluegogo, run by Tianjin Luding Technology. Bluegogo made a similar price hike on March 21, charging CNY1 for 15 minutes instead of 30 and CNY0.5 for every 15 quarter-hour thereafter. Mobike increased its prices to CNY2.5 an hour less than two weeks ago.

Rising prices are becoming a trend as the bike-sharing sector begins to mature, a Hello Chuxing official said in the statement. The firm will offer preferential rates to certain groups, such as students, he added, without disclosing whether rate hikes are coming to other cities.

Hello Chuxing bikes depreciate by CNY0.6 per day and cost CNY0.3 a day to maintain, Chief Executive Yang Lei said on Oct. 24, adding that at CNY1 per ride the company can still turn a profit.

Other companies are likely to follow suit as investors lose patience with a sector that has burned through billions of yuan over the past few years. Beijing Bikelock Technology, better known as Ofo, has been struggling with cash and recently warned that competitors will be doomed to perish if they cannot develop without external cash injections.

Editor: James Boynton