The Asia Bicycle Alliance (ABA) held a meeting during Shanghai Cycle Show in order to share bicycle industry and market development trends in member states. The meeting’s participants made a joint resolution that this year’s annual convention of the ABA will be held in Taiwan concurrently with the Taipei Cycle Show.
According to ABA Chairman Ma Zhongchao, thanks to shared bicycles, China’s bicycle output enjoyed slight growth in spite of adverse conditions last year. The total number of bicycles in use in Shanghai alone reached a new high of 1.7 million units last year, and shared bicycles were the unquestionably the centerpiece of last year’s Shanghai show. Shared bicycles quietly disappeared from this year’s show, which revealed the industry’s determination to return to rational development. As for the location of this year’s ABA annual convention, after Chairman Ma and TBA Chairman Michael Tseng discussed the issue, their decision to hold the convention in Taipei obtained the participating members’ unanimous support, and the timing of the convention will coincide with the Taipei show.
According to Alexander Nachevkin, head of the Russian bicycle Association, 4.5 million bicycles are sold in Russia annually, of which 2.0 million are produced in Russia. More than one half of all bicycles sold in Russia are important, and these chiefly consist of mid-/low-price models. Russia’s bicycle sales grew by 10%-15% in 2017, and minor growth to 4.6-4.7 million units is expected for this year. Velomotors is Russia’s largest bicycle assembly firm, and sold 1.3 million bikes last year. Although South Korea imported 2.0 million bicycles in 2016, its bicycle imports fell by 25%, to 1.3 million units, last year. This drop was largely attributable to the poor weather and bad air quality, which reduced the public’s interest in outdoor cycling. Because e-bikes can be written in bicycle lanes in Korea, Korean e-bike sales have increased steadily. A total of 20,000 e-bikes were sold in South Korea last year, and a target of 30-40,000 has been set for this year.
A total of 7.7 million bicycles were sold in Japan in 2017, which represented a slight drop of 0.8% compared with 2016. Only 900,000 of these bicycles were produced in Japan, and the remaining 6.8 million units were all imported, and 70%-80% of these were imported from China. Last year, Japan’s e-bike sales reached 570,000 units, of which most were produced in Japan. The bicycle promotion bill passed by Japan’s legislature on May 1 of last year calls for vigorous efforts to improve cycling safety and widen bike lanes. Apart from the active promotional efforts of the central government, the bill also requires local governments and relevant associations to lend their support to implementation. A total of 5.0 million bicycles were sold in Indonesia last year, of which 1.3 million were produced domestically, and 90% of the 3.7 million imported bicycles came from China.
The gap between rich and poor is large in India, and bicycles remain a major means of transportation. Around 12 million bicycles are sold in India each year, and most of these are made by several large bicycle groups. Shared bicycles began to appear in India last year. Vietnam has roughly 500 bicycle and e-bike assembly firms; around one million bicycles and e-bikes are sold in Vietnam each year, and sales grew by 20% in 2017. Vietnam has imposed a 40% import tariff on whole bicycles and a 10% tariff on parts and accessories. Approximately 70% of bicycles sold in Vietnam are imported from China, with the remainder being produced by local assembly plants. The Vietnamese government plans to develop the bicycle industry in Hanoi during 2020, and also hopes that Vietnam can prohibit motorcycles in 2030. People in the industry should continue to watch for news concerning these plans.
