BEIJING, China – China’s electric bicycle production is expected to maintain an annual growth rate of at least 80 % in the next five years, driven by efforts to save energy and clean the environment.
The country, once known as the kingdom of bicycles, will churn out 30 million electricity-driven bikes in 2010, compared to 9 million bikes last year.
So said a report drafted by the Development Research Centre under the State Council and other ministries such as the National Development and Reform Commission. "There is huge market demand for the product in the country, as the Chinese Government has highlighted the issues of energy conservation and environmental improvement," said Yang Jianlong, a director at the Development Research Centre and one of those involved in writing the report.
Industry experts yesterday called for the government to come up with more preferential policies to spread the use of electric bikes in China. Electric bike production in China accounts for about 90 % of the world’s total, making China the world’s biggest producer, consumer and exporter of the energy-efficient vehicle, the report said.
The country last year sold about 3 million electric bikes to foreign countries, a figure expected to double to 6 million in five years. By 2010, the production value of the electric bike industry in China is expected to be 70 billion yuan (US$8.6 billion), almost four times the current level, it said.
