BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's six ministries team up to tackle the problem of rising bicycle theft as it increasingly perturbs the majority of the Chinese households.

    China, the literal "land of bicycles," has 470 million bicycles,4 million of which are stolen every year at a cost of 2 billion yuan. Beijing, the nation's capital, reported the daily theft of 40 bicycles in 2006, Ma Weiya, an official with the Ministry of Public Security, told a press conference jointly held by the six ministries Wednesday.

    The measures worked out by the six ministries include a coding system for new bicycles, a registration system for transactions, surveillance on bicycle market, crack-down on bicycle theft rings and the improvement of bicycles parking lots.

    To encourage people to report thefts, the Ministry of Public security set up three levels of rewards, ranging from 100 yuan to 5000 yuan, with the maximum going to those whose clues help bust a ring of at least 15 people and recover at least 50 bicycles, Ma said.