Mountain bicycles

China is the largest manufacturer of bicycles in the world, accounting for 80 percent of global output. The country produced 128 million bicycles including mountain bicycles in 2006, of which 51 million units worth US$1.6 billion were exported. Although export sales grew by a healthy 14.5 percent last year, growth in terms of volume was only 2.4 percent, a sharp decline from the 11 percent increase registered in 2006. The higher growth rate in value terms last year can be attributed to a rise in export prices and to an increase in shipments of electric bikes and sport bikes like mountain bicycles, which are more expensive than other types of bicycles. From January to April 2005, the average price of a mountain bicycles exported from China was US$42, and it climbed to US$44 over the same period in 2006. Export volume growth, on the other hand, was lower in part due to a dip in shipments to Japan, the country's second-largest market.