Freewheeling pedicabs to be reined by State's notice

The days of cheap delivery pedicabs may soon end with standards on the way for the last-mile backbone of logistics firms to deliver orders from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, JD.com and others.

The freewheeling delivery method has caught the State Council attention, prompting a notice in October on national production and use standards for electric-powered pedicabs with local governments allowed to set rules according to facts on the ground.

The move was welcomed by an industry expert who said many of the unlicensed pedicabs, or sanlunche in Chinese, sporting a massive metal box on the back were built with low-cost materials and are dangerous on busy streets.