The economics of junking bikes is a short to medium term gamble..If you are early to the market and can kill competition (like Bluegogo died), you can dominate a market. If you can create a near monopoly and increase the total revenue to more than make up for the initial loss of assets.

The gamble works best when only one player adopts this strategy. Flies in the ointment include:

1. Regulations and fines for dumping.
2. Late entrants taking advantage of your attempts to clear the field, at no cost to themselves. This also negates the advantage you gained at a cost.
3. Late entrants in a strong financial position, when your cash has been depleted.
4. You run out of cash yourself (as happened to Bluegogo).
5. Public perceptions. If your bikes are seen a a pile of junk, they will get treated as such. Personally, I would be much more likely to carelessly discard an Ofo than I would a Mobike. For some users the perception of how cool a bike is, many lead some people away from services that are seen as less cool.

I see a new player on the block. Hellobike, these are blue and white.

Wiki lists 5 major traditional festivals on solar term. This suggests that there are other minor festivals.. Although Hanshi effectively rolls into Qingming. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_calendar#Festivals

"...If they are able to exchange privacy for convenience or efficiency, they are willing to do so in many cases..."

In my world I did this a long time ago. I realized that I was doing this to some degree when I signed up for my first email account and online shopping. Over the years I have seen my privacy eroded as convenience and efficiency increased. Admittedly I was a little surprised by how far this has gone, and how the data has been used (post Cambridge Analytica revelations), but I knew that I had crossed the Rubicon a long time ago.
Since moving here, I also accept, grudgingly, that I am being surveilled, but to go off grid would inconvenient and inefficient.

As distasteful as the situation given by Robin Li is, I think that he is not that far wrong, in his assessment; note that he does not say it is right, just a fact. As for the the online reaction? nobody likes to be reminded of bad news.

There probably simple work around, BUT the numbers of people who have been disciplined so far (well over 100 000) and the range of sanctions being handed out means it is not worth the risk.

Some of the stories of government officials having to go out into the villages to sweep the streets suggest that a very tight rein is being used in certain quarters.