Hello! Hellobike? Founder Yang Lei Makes Appearance in Capital Markets This Year

Question: How will the exposure of violations by AI · Hello affect Yang Lei’s capital layout?

Reporter Zhang Xiaohui

An exposure on the “3.15” evening show brought the spotlight onto Hello Electric Scooter Rentals.

On March 15, 2026, CCTV revealed multiple business violations by Hello Electric Scooter Rentals during the “3.15” Gala:

Speed decoding, offline stores illegally removing vehicle speed limits, with tested top speeds of 75 km/h, far exceeding the new national standard of 25 km/h; illegal licensing and license plate swapping, with a provincial marketing manager admitting on camera that vehicles can be registered with a qualified certificate before production, using old standards to register new, over-standard electric bikes; Hello Mobility’s lax review of merchants and lack of daily supervision.

Hello Mobility responded late on March 15: admitting oversight in review and management, launching a special investigation; emphasizing that unauthorized offline stores are not using the Hello brand, reserving the right to pursue accountability; promising comprehensive rectification, removal of illegal vehicles, and strengthened merchant management.

According to BoYan Consulting’s 2025 market data, as the two leading players in China’s two-wheel shared mobility sector, Hello Mobility and Yonganxing together hold the industry’s top market share. Born in October 1988, Yang Lei is the founder of Hello Mobility and the actual controller of Yonganxing (603776.SH) (hereafter “the actual controller”).

Yang Lei founded the Hello brand in September 2016. The main company of Hello Mobility is Shanghai Hello Puhui Technology Co., Ltd. (“Shanghai Hello”), with business segments including Hello Bikes, Hello E-scooters, Hello Rideshare, Hello Electric Scooter Rentals, Little Hello Battery Swap, Hello Car Rentals, etc.

In 2025, Yang Lei took action to bring Yonganxing under his control and made a debut in the capital market.

Losses Widen

A deep ownership analysis of Shanghai Hello shows its parent company is Jiangsu Hello Puhui Technology Co., Ltd. (“Jiangsu Hello”).

Jiangsu Hello’s top three shareholders are Shanghai Yunxin Venture Capital Co., Ltd. (35.94%), Yonganxing (23.26%), and Ningbo Chiying Investment Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) (18.90%).

Shanghai Yunxin is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ant Technology Group Co., Ltd.; the actual controller of Yonganxing changed to Yang Lei in April 2025; Yang Lei holds 99.9% of Ningbo Chiying.

Yonganxing began planning a major asset restructuring on March 8, 2025, which has now lasted over a year. When Yonganxing resumed trading on March 17, 2025, the market had high expectations, speculating that Yang Lei might inject Hello Mobility’s assets into Yonganxing. After resumption, Yonganxing’s stock price hit five consecutive daily limit-ups.

On March 20, 2025, Yonganxing disclosed a purchase report, revealing that founder Yang Lei acquired control through “agreement transfer + private placement + voting rights relinquishment.” Mainly through Shanghai Hamao Business Consulting Co., Ltd., acquiring 19.67% of shares (about 669 million yuan) from the original actual controller Sun Jisheng and Ant Group, plus subscribing to 840 million yuan in private placement, and with Sun Jisheng relinquishing 13.77% of voting rights, totaling nearly 1.51 billion yuan, Yang Lei gained 38.21% voting rights, becoming the new actual controller.

Yonganxing’s performance continues to be loss-making. The 2025 earnings forecast shows a net profit attributable to shareholders of -200 million to -160 million yuan; in 2024, net profit was also a loss of 147 million yuan. Since Yang Lei became the actual controller, losses have increased.

Yonganxing stated that its 2025 losses mainly stem from fixed asset impairments, accounts receivable, and commercial impairments.

A Year Later, Industry Competition Remains Unresolved

On March 20, 2025, Yang Lei, as the actual controller of Hello Mobility and Yonganxing, made a written commitment to avoid industry competition—“Letter of Commitment on Regulating and Avoiding Industry Competition” (“the Commitment”).

In the Commitment, Yang Lei states: “Regarding the business segments controlled by me, excluding listed companies and their subsidiaries, which may have certain competition with the listed company’s business, according to current laws, regulations, and policies, I will, within five years from gaining control of the listed company, and striving to do so in a shorter period, in accordance with the requirements of relevant securities regulators, and under the premise of complying with applicable laws and regulations, and relevant regulatory rules, based on principles that favor the development of the listed company and protect shareholders’ interests, especially those of minority shareholders, use methods such as asset restructuring, business adjustments, entrusted management, etc., to steadily promote the integration of related assets or businesses, avoiding significant adverse competitive conflicts.”

Hello Mobility operates a full range of shared mobility services including bikes, e-scooters, car rentals, ride-hailing, etc.; Yonganxing operates station-based public bicycles, shared mobility, car rentals, hydrogen energy, and other businesses. Both companies face competition in core segments like bikes, electric assist bikes, and car rentals. Public information indicates no asset restructuring or business divestment has occurred between them.

Regarding speculation about injecting Hello Mobility’s business into Yonganxing, Yang Lei clarified on March 21, 2025, during the Yonganxing acquisition that the transaction did not include any asset injection, and there are no plans within the next 12 months to restructure Hello Group or inject its shared bike business.

In March 2020, Yang Lei was restricted from high consumption by the Minhang District People’s Court in Shanghai due to a contract dispute involving Ai DaJia, but the restriction was later lifted.

Yang Lei is a low-profile entrepreneur, rarely appearing publicly. After the “3.15” Gala exposed violations in Hello Electric Scooter Rentals, the company responded and apologized. Yang Lei did not publicly comment.

An investor commented on Yonganxing’s forum: “Hello! Yonganxing?”

After the 3.15 Gala, Yonganxing’s stock price slightly declined from 20.25 yuan per share before March 15 to 19.47 yuan on March 19, a 3.85% drop, with a total market value of about 5.5 billion yuan.