China's bicycle industry reports output drop in first three quarters

BEIJING - China's bicycle output stood at nearly 30 million in the first three quarters of this year, down 7.6 percent year-on-year, according to official data.

The output of electric bikes climbed 20.2 percent from a year ago to reach 20.9 million in the January-September period, showed data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In September alone, bicycle output dropped 4.3 percent year-on-year to 3.37 million, while the output of electric bikes rose 31 percent year-on-year to 3.16 million.

China's bicycle manufacturers above designated size saw their revenue fall by 1.4 percent year-on-year to 35.72 billion yuan ($5.1 billion) in the first nine months, with their profit surging by 92.1 percent to 1.23 billion yuan.

During the same period, electric bike makers reported a total profit of 2.06 billion yuan, up 16.9 percent year-on-year, said the ministry.