SHANGHAI: China has published draft guidelines to regulate the booming bicycle-sharing industry whose firms have raised hundreds of millions in dollars in funding but have cluttered up sidewalks with bikes.

The rules aim to address congestion and illegal parking as well as safety concerns over users’ deposits and personal information, according to the statement published by the Ministry of Transport.

The rules are the first national attempt to strengthen oversight over the sector, which now has more than 30 bike-sharing services that allow users to find, unlock and pay to rent trackable bikes through smartphone apps.

Industry leaders include firms Mobike and ofo, which have raised US$665 million between them in their latest funding rounds. Their investors include Foxconn, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and Tencent Holdings.

These firms have put more than 10 million bikes on the street in the year since the bike-sharing boom started, sometimes prompting police to move away bikes blocking the paths.

The draft rules, for which the ministry is seeking public opinion until June 5, may require companies to establish user credit systems, dole out penalties for illegal parking, and bring in insurance for users.

The bike-rental firms will also need to share real-time operating information with the local regulator, it said.

(Reporting by Jackie Cai and Brenda Goh; Editing by Nick Macfie)

LONDON: Oil rose more than 2 percent on Monday to US$52 a barrel after top exporter Saudi Arabia and Russia said supply cuts needed to last into 2018, a step towards keeping an OPEC-led deal to support prices in place longer than originally agreed.

Energy ministers from the two countries said on Monday that supply cuts should be extended for nine months, until March 2018. That is longer than the optional six-month extension specified in the deal.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, had risen US$1.20 to US$52.04 a barrel by 0847 GMT (4.47 a.m. ET) and traded intraday at US$52.26, the highest since April 26.

U.S. crude was up US$1.18 at US$49.02 a barrel.

Oil has gained support from the supply deal but inventories remain high and output from other producers such as the United States is rising, keeping prices below the US$60 that Saudi Arabia would like to see.

“There has been a marked reduction to the inventories, but we’re not where we want to be in reaching the five-year average,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told a briefing in Beijing alongside his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak.

“We’ve come to the conclusion that the agreement needs to be extended.”

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers originally agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017, with a possible six-month extension.

The ministers said they hoped other producers would join the supply cut, which will initially be on the same volume terms as before.

Oil traders and analysts were surprised by the strong wording of the announcement.

“It is certainly a strong statement to include already 2018, while it may also be aimed at improving the chances of keeping other participants on side when it comes to the next round of talks in 10 days,” analysts at JBC Energy said in a report.

OPEC and the non-OPEC countries meet to decide policy on May 25 in Vienna, and OPEC has also invited two small producers not involved in the original deal, Egypt and Turkmenistan, to attend.

However, higher output from the United States, which did not participate in the agreement to cut supplies, has limited the impact of the OPEC-led effort.

U.S. energy firms added oil rigs for a 17th week in a row, extending a 12-month drilling recovery, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said on Friday.

(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Dale Hudson)

SINGAPORE: The registration of children for admission to Primary 1 next year will start on Jun 29 and end on Aug 28, according to the Ministry of Education’s website.

Children born between Jan 2, 2011, and Jan 1, 2012 (both dates inclusive) have to be registered for admission to primary school next January.

More details can be found on the ministry’s P1 registration website.

Parents can go to their school of choice to register. All primary schools will open for registration from 8am to 11am and from 2.30pm to 4.30pm during the registration period.

Parents registering their children for Phase 2C and 2C Supplementary can do so online using their SingPass via the Primary 1 Internet System.