With populations and industry booming in China and urban areas undergoing massive infrastructural expansion, cars are proliferating in what was once a bike-dominated transportation culture. Electric bikes and scooters have managed to keep some Chinese mobile without an automobile (hindered briefly by the ban that tried to suppress bike sales in favor of the auto industry), but according to The Guardian:

The number of vehicles on China's roads has increased more than twenty-fold since 1978 to 27m. Within 15 years, he predicted, it could rise to more than 130m - which still represents only one car for every 10 people....Estimates of the number of bicycles in [Beijing] range from 4m to 10m. But transport analysts say the average Beijinger travels 60% less by bike than 10 years ago and those journeys are becoming dirtier and more dangerous.

But yesterday, China's construction ministry declared that bike lanes which have been sacrificed in the name of road and highway expansion must be restored to full function, an announcement which came on the heels of another two days prior, ordering that government employees take public transportation or ride bikes to work.

Qiu Baoxing, a vice-minister with the Ministry of Construction, said it was important for China to retain its title as the "kingdom of bicycles."

No doubt with cities growing and the auto industry still on the rise in China, bikes may still face pressure on the roads, but greening efforts abound, and pronouncements such as those delivered this week keep adding momentum to the movement towards greener Chinese cities.

Thanks, David!