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China's Bicycle Graveyards: How a Business Idea Became a Devastating Disaster
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News18•22-09-2026, 15:36
China's Bicycle Graveyards: How a Business Idea Became a Devastating Disaster
- •What began as bike-sharing in China to save the environment and ease traffic, turned into a terrible disaster within a few years.
- •Millions of colorful bicycles are now piled up in gigantic mountains outside many Chinese cities, resembling massive bicycle graveyards.
- •Initially popular, the entry of over 70 companies led to 16 million new bicycles on roads, vastly exceeding demand.
- •Illegal parking and piles of broken bicycles became common, and major companies went bankrupt, abandoning millions of bikes.
- •Local administrations seized abandoned bicycles, dumping them in large fields outside cities, forming 30-40 feet high mountains of junk.
Key Questions Answered
The unchecked corporate competition and lack of policy in China's dockless bike-sharing industry led to millions of abandoned bicycles. More than 70 private companies flooded the streets with about 1.6 million brand-new bicycles, which eventually overwhelmed cities when demand dropped and companies went bankrupt.
Private bike-sharing companies introduced approximately 1.6 crore, or 16 million, brand-new bicycles onto Chinese roads during the height of the trend.
When local municipal corporations had no other option, they seized the illegally parked and abandoned bicycles, dumping them in large fields outside the city. In areas like Xiamen, these piles accumulated into colorful mountains reaching 30 to 40 feet high.
