China tops world in bike production

China's bicycle production hit 117 million units in 2020, growing 15.3 percent from a year ago, according to the 2021 China Bicycle Industry Conference that is currently being held in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province.

Workers assemble bicycle parts at a factory in Wuqing district of north China's Tianjin, Jan. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

This has once again made the country the largest bike producer in the world.

The production figure might exceed 120 million units this year, said the China Bicycle Association at the conference.

Last year, the total revenue of bike enterprises above the designated size, or those with annual sales revenues over 20 million yuan ($3.14 million), reached 150.2 billion yuan, up 17.6 percent year-on-year, and with overall profits having meanwhile risen by 11.4 percent.

In the first three quarters of 2021, these enterprises reported combined revenues of 140.1 billion yuan, up 23.7 percent year-on-year, and with profits also surging 43.1 percent to reach 6.2 billion yuan. A 10-percent rise is expected in revenues for major businesses in the industry this year.

China is also the world's largest consumer and exporter of electric bicycles. At present, nearly 300 million electric bikes are being used across the country. In 2020, China produced 41.26 million electric bicycles and exported nearly 2.02 million of them, up 14.3 percent and 38.9 percent, respectively.

In the January-September period for this year, the exports of bicycles and spare parts hit $7.76 billion, soaring 67.9 percent year-on-year and registering the highest period of growth over the past five years.

The export volumes of racing bikes and mountain bikes meanwhile increased 122.7 percent and 50.6 percent, respectively. The average unit price for all exported bike products hit $71.2 in September, reaching a historical high. China's bike exports to the U.S., Canada, Chile and Russia all maintained a double-digit growth trend.