Beijing: Authorities in Beijing unveiled a plan yesterday to make the Chinese capital more bicycle-friendly in the hopes of reducing the city's choking pollution and alleviating congestion.
For decades, China was known as the "bicycle kingdom" but that moniker has become outdated as more and more Chin-ese buy cars amid the country's economic boom. Last year, China overtook the US as the world's biggest auto market, with total vehicle sales of about 13.6 million.
Beijing has 17 million people and four million cars, a figure that continues to grow and strain the city's already overloaded road system.
Meanwhile, 19.7 per cent of Beijing residents ride bicycles, and authorities hoped to raise that to 23 per cent by 2015, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The city will restore bicycle lanes that were cut to make room for cars and buses, and build more bicycle parking lots, particularly next to bus and subway stations, Liu Xiaoming, director of the Municipal Communications Commission said.
