The UN Development Program (UNDP) launched a partnership with a Chinese bike-sharing platform on April 25 at the UN headquarters in New York City.

UNDP Assistant Administrator Michael O'Neill signed a memorandum of understanding with Ofo founder and CEO Dai Wei. Their partnership is based on the "one-km initiative," a collaboration to encourage low-carbon, sustainable, and eco-friendly short-distance bicycle trips.

This is the first time that UN has collaborated with a Chinese start-up firm.

Based on the memorandum, on the 17th day of every month, Ofo is going to encourage all travelers to celebrate the "last kilometer day," and provide funding to the UNDP to improve the quality of education, tackle climate change, and support sustainable development on a global level.

For its part, the UNDP will give Ofo suggestions to redistribute abandoned bikes to rural areas to improve education access for children living in poverty. The partnership is expected to reach 100 million people.

"We are honored to collaborate with the UNDP and work together towards a clean and sustainable transportation environment. Bicycle is one of the greatest inventions of mankind and has been existing for 200 years," said Dai Wei, adding that it is Ofo's hope that bike-sharing will have a positive influence on the next 200 years in China, and the world.

Ofo is a Beijing-based bicycle-sharing company founded in 2014. At present, Ofo has provided 3.5 million bicycles, with a total of more than 50 million users, in four countries and 81 cities around the world.

(Reporting from New York City)