It is amazing to think that there are, today, over three hundred million bicycles in China. A far cry to their popularity as late as the 1940's when there were only around half a million bicycles in the whole of that country.
What is peculiar is that the Chinese bicycle industry, according to Internet research, seems to have begun in the same way that the British bicycle industry finds itself today. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the bicycles on sale in China were of high quality and imported from Britain, Germany and the U.S., with British bicycle producers exhibiting their machines in China. The early production lines set up by the largest Chinese importers were all from imported components and in very small quantities compared to the numbers of bicycles being ridden and sold in Europe and America.
Today, we have gone full circle. Where Britain and Europe used to supply all of the Chinese market, China is now producing around a staggering 64 million bicycles a year. Surprisingly, though, their export rate is showing some signs of decline. The largest manufacturer of bicycles is Taiwan. Where Britain used to be the supplier of high-quality bicycles into China, it is the imports back into Europe that are high quality, with prices to match. In years gone by, anything imported was always considered of inferior quality and price premiums could be expected on British-made products. While cheap bicycles less than 100 GBP can be purchased online, or within high-street catalogue shops, most high street bicycle shop prices are far and away above this. A recent search of both independent and high street chain bicycle shops showed bicycles priced between 400 GBP and 1,000 GBP, nearly all of which originate from Taiwan, or America.
So what about the humble British bicycle manufacturer? Do they still exist? British production rates have declined year on year from 325,000 units in 2003, to approximately 80,000 units in 2007. Compare this to the imports of around 3.5 million, and we get a stark contrast to true British production. Where they exist, they appear to be, typically, made-to-order and seem to cater for the specialist markets of, for example, Sports, Special Needs, industrial heavy-duty work bicycles - for deliveries, etc. - or the high-end, hand-built classic leisure market.
What did surprise me when searching the prices was the apparent lack of knowledge as to which of their stocks were British. Most of the opinion was - probably quite rightly - that all the stock was imported or, if of some British origin, then only assembled in Britain from imported components - exactly as the China market started at the turn of the twentieth century.
Once again, in Britain we find fluctuating fuel prices; high unemployment; a Government that is trying to promote a bicycle-to-work ethos in order to help reduce carbon emissions; and we have some employers actively encouraging their employees with financial rewards for leaving their cars at home. So, why cannot we also encourage larger-scale bicycle production back into the country, before its too late?
