Chinese electric bicycle market is far and away the world leader in the technology

The Chinese electric bicycle market has been forecast to be buying 42 million of the projected 47 million or so e-bicycles that that will be sold in 2018, 89% of the total world market. China is where most of the global growth is projected to occur, due to its rapid urbanisation, demand for low-cost transportation, and a historical affinity to bikes.

China is far and away the world leader in the technology, with over 100 million e-bikes on the road already and a total of 28 million e-bikes -- the majority of the global market -- will be sold there this year. They are an inexpensive and easy way to get around, and have become a logical substitute for motorcycles and motor scooters, which some Chinese cities ban because of air-pollution concerns.

The vast majority of the e-bicycles sold in China, the world's largest market, utilise sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries. While this has resulted in extremely low-cost e-bicycles in China, it has also led to a number of challenges including e-bicycle traffic congestion, lead contamination, and manufacturers effectively ignoring laws relating to e-bicycles speed and weight limits.

Jiangsu Yadea, a famous electric bicycle producer in China, tops the ranking of China National Light Industry Council (CNLIC) electric bicycle industry for consecutive three years. Headquartered in Wuxi, Jiangsu, the company now owns four production bases in Wuxi, Cixi, Tianjin and Dongguan, and boasts annual capacity of nearly 6 million electric bicycles.

Jiangsu Xinri is one of the leading electric bicycle producers and has rapidly expanded its capacity in the past two years. Its production base, which is located in Xiangyang, Hubei and boasts annual capacity of 2 million electric bicycles, was officially put into operation in June 2011. Later in June 2012, its electric bicycle project with one-million capacities went into operation in Wuxi, when its total capacity amounted to 6 million electric bicycles per year.

For more information on the Chinese electric bicycle market, see the latest research: Chinese Electric Bicycle Market

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