(Yicai Global) July 2 -- Xiaoming Bike, the first of China's bike-sharing firms to declare bankruptcy, still owes more than CNY25 billion (USD3.7 billion) to users who put down a security deposit.

Some 125,000 users are awaiting their money back, Xiaoming's Guangzhou-based operator Yueqi Information Technology said in a debt statement yesterday. The company filed for liquidation in March last year after saturation of China's bike-sharing market shut down a string of providers.

Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court approved the bankruptcy filing and China Recycling Development agreed to pay Xiaoming CNY12 (USD1.75) for each of its bikes.

Several Chinese bike sharers have struggled to repay user deposits, which were typically around CNY100 to CNY200 before most operators began allowing registrations without a down payment. One of the largest firms in the sector, Ofo, had nearly 16 million users awaiting their deposits return as of last month. At an average CNY99 per user, the company owes CNY1.5 billion (USD219 million).

Xiaoming, which raised cash through four funding rounds -- the last raking in CNY100 million in July 2017 -- also owes CNY1.6 million in wages and financial compensation to 115 employee creditors, and CNY19.2 million to other lenders, it added. Some CNY14 million of that is owed to a single supplier.

Editor: James Boynton