Beijing bicycle buyers may now join a new voluntary registry, designed to return bikes to their rightful owners should they be stolen and recovered.

Although bicycle registration is no longer compulsory as it once was into the late 1990s, this new database is designed to address a lack of owner information that Beijing police say prevents them from resolving many bicycle thefts.

When buying a bicycle, a new owner may choose to join the registry by filing their information through participating bike shops.

Bicycling has dropped as the main method of transportation in Beijing, from 1986, when 63 percent of Beijingers bicycled every day, to 15 percent now. However, over 2,300 bicycle theft-related arrests were made in 2015, and an underground market for hot bikes remains very active.

By Steven Schwankert
Photo: tri-gon film