This Day, That Year

Item from Jan 16, 1988, in China Daily: A record 40 million bicycles were produced last year in China. It was the ninth successive year that the country's production had been the largest in the world ... There are now about 270 million bicycles in the country, an average of one for every four people ... The potential market for bicycles is still very large, as more and more people want to replace their old-fashioned bikes with new ones. Special bikes for children, sports and cross-country use, will also be in great demand.

By the 1980s, bicycles formed the main mode of transport nationwide.

However, with China's rapid economic development, more commuters gave up their bicycles and started to drive.