Enterprising China exporter sells car-replacing rural electric pedicabs to US, bemoans profit levels same as selling clothes
- Small China counytryside vehicle can carry a tonne of cargoes
- Become a sensation in US towns, convenient to use, easy to park
A 25-year-old man from China has trended on mainland social media for selling electric pedicabs – which are popular in rural parts of the country – to customers in the United States where they are rare.
Called san beng zi in Mandarin, the small vehicle can carry cargoes weighing a tonne or several people on an uncovered trailer.
The vehicles can travel tens of kilometres on a full charge.
Luo Hao graduated from a Shanghai university in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, and gained a master’s degree in finance from a university in Britain in the summer of 2023.
While he was researching business opportunities last year, Luo saw videos filmed by a Chinese woman living in the US who had bought a san beng zi for her American father-in-law as a Christmas gift.
The father-in-law was amazed by the electric pedicab which was bought for US$600 but cost much more to be shipped from China and transported to their home.
He was so fascinated with the vehicle, which he called beng beng because san beng zi is difficult for foreigners to pronounce, that he drove it around his neighbourhood and to the supermarket.
Locals were equally taken by the unusual form of transport.
The pedicab soon became a sensation in their town, with many people asking where they could buy one, according to video clips of the woman who is identified as @Bobozaimeiguo on Douyin.
Local police granted the pedicab the same licence as a motorcycle after it passed basic performance tests.
The clips show US police officers admiring the vehicle and noting how convenient it is to drive and easy to park.
“Her videos have been viewed by tens of millions of people in China. But only I went into action,” Luo told the mainland news outlet, Jimu News.
Luo and a friend decided to move to the US at the start of this year to set up a business selling the vehicles.
They have another partner based on the mainland who is responsible for buying the pedicabs from factories.
Luo said the cost of buying the pedicabs and shipping them from China was 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) each.
In addition, there is the cost of renting storage in the US and paying for trucks to deliver them to customers.
To save money, Luo learned how to drive a truck. He said he has sold dozens of the vehicles since the beginning of March.
“On the first day, when our sales began, our revenue was US$10,000. This makes me very proud,” said Luo. “But I’d like to say it’s really hard to start a business. I’ve put a tremendously large amount of effort into it.”
Luo said he and his friend once sent a pedicab to a farm in the evening and the forklift broke. They had to unload it by themselves and did not get home until 2am.
Another time on a delivery when he had almost reached a customer’s home, they sent him a message cancelling the order.
“Profits are not as high as many internet users might think. It’s on a par with that of selling clothes in China,” said Luo.
He said that after his business went viral on mainland social media, many internet users left him messages and some expressed an interest in selling san beng zi abroad.
“If you have no experience or no resources in this industry, I suggest you look before you leap,” Luo said.
